


Comes The Destroyer

by MamaBear7319



Series: The Happier, Friendlier Timeline (2014) [24]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Irondad, Trip To Space, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 55,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27384793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MamaBear7319/pseuds/MamaBear7319
Summary: The Power Stone is missing and there are too many Infinity Stones on Earth.  Continuation of Bleed Through 2023 and exists in the 2014 timeline.
Series: The Happier, Friendlier Timeline (2014) [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934734
Comments: 47
Kudos: 11





	1. Knowhere

He gave a wistful final look at the remains of the place he had called home for the last five years. They had taken him in when no one else would. When the end came, it had been full of sound and fury. For as powerful as he had come to see his adoptive home it had fallen like leaves from a dead tree. It had taken less than two hours to result in the destruction laid out in front of him.

He had found peace and purpose in the five years spent on the alien planet. Now he had nothing. Looking down at his hands he realized that was not entirely true. Through the desolation had come one thing...one singular thing...a power he hadn't understood, now rooted within him. The power of all of them. And with that power came a new purpose. The enemy had come and in his wake had left him. He knew what he needed to do, what he could do. He could avenge the fallen.

xxxxxxxxxx

Tony couldn't help the smile that he knew was plastered on his face. His kid was staring at a planet out the window of the ship with a look of wonder on his face. Maybe it was a moon, he had lost track. What he did know was that the Peter standing in front of him reminded him of the 14 year old kid he had taken to Germany. Originally, he had misgivings about bringing Peter on the mission. It wasn't that he didn't think he could handle it. Peter was more than capable and his engineering skills would come in handy. Tony knew Peter felt guilty about leaving and had wavered between his options. But, it was more than that. Peter was stressed. It's the only word Tony could come up for it. Tony had begged him over the last year to take a break, let others handle things for a chance. But, there was always the next mission, the next project, the next SI problem. Tony had been worried that the stress would end up breaking him and he couldn't figure out how to stop him. What other saw as simple maturity Tony saw for what it was...Peter was taking everything on himself, refusing to let anyone else help. And, he was doing the same thing now. But, Tony was relieved that it seemed like the stress that had been there before had evaporated leaving a more relaxed Peter in its place who could enjoy the fact that they were in space. Maybe coming on the mission wasn't a bad idea after all, although every once in a while he'd see Peter get a little pensive, as if the guilt about leaving was crushing him.

"It's a Lava planet! I'm calling it Mustafar." Peter tore his eyes away from the planet they were passing on their approach to a place called 'Knowhere'. Peter had found it funny that the name of their first stop was 'Knowhere'. He had been happy to find out that other civilizations had a sense of humor.

"If you boys are done sight seeing, tell Thor were about 30 minutes out from the coordinates and I have no idea what the docking procedures are." Natasha yelled from the cockpit. She smirked at Steve who was sitting in the co-pilot seat. "Still glad you came?"

Steve nodded. "Someone has to be the diplomat. Out of the four back there, Loki is probably the best suited, which is not saying much." He looked over at Natasha. "Plus, where else am I going to get views like this?"

Thor made his way to the cockpit and leaned over Natasha's seat. "Would you like me to take over?"

Natasha slid out of the pilots seat to allow Thor to replace her. The ship was designed very much like the Quinjet, just a little larger with more power and more reinforcements. The knowledge that Hulk had successfully made it to Sakaar with a mostly intact normal Quinjet had given them a lot of confidence in what they were attempting to do. She glanced back into the cabin and saw Peter had moved to a monitor that showed a display of the system they were in. They were mapping as they went so they could combine their data with Reed's.

"I wonder if there's a Tatooine too!" Peter looked at the binary system displayed in front of him. He looked over at his dad, "Two suns would be cool to see."

"We're getting Star Wars comments the entire trip, aren't we?" Tony crossed his arms, looking over at Peter. He was giving him a hard time but the reality was he'd take Star Wars comments any day over commentary about targets and ops.

"I'm sure I'll switch over to Firefly, Aliens, Battlestar Galactica, or maybe The Expanse at some point. Thor said this was a mining colony, right?"

"A mining colony in the severed head of a Celestial, or so the story goes. I haven't seen it for myself." Loki topped the last step leading from the crew quarters. In addition to the extra power and reinforcements, crew quarters had really been the other big change to the Quinjet's design.

"How big were Celestials if you can mine their severed head?" Peter looked up towards the cockpit. The windshield was large enough that he could see a decent amount of the area in front of them. Right now he could see the beginnings of what seemed like a nebula. It was hard to tell what the clouds were made of. Depending on how they were mining it could just be a byproduct.

"What is that?"

Tony and Peter walked towards the cockpit. "Whoa...is that it?" Peter was pretty sure his jaw had dropped open. He could just make out what looked like the rim of a giant rocky asteroid, except as more of it broke away from the clouds, you could make out the definite shape of a skull.

"That is Knowhere." Loki had stopped next to Peter and was looking at the same unimaginable shape protruding from the nebula.

"It is said that a great battle between Celestial's took place here in another age. Time eroded the vanquished leaving only this shell behind. It was discovered only a couple hundred years ago and the Tivan Group started mining the remains. Knowhere has evolved from a simple mining colony to what you see now." Thor, adjusted the controls.

Loki crowed his arms. "And by evolved he really means devolved. Knowhere has a reputation for being less than respectable."

Tony smirked. He had been in more than a few 'less than respectable' places over the years. He hoped it wouldn't be any worse than any of those.

"Tivan...isn't the Collector's name Tivan? An Elder has a mining company?" Natasha looked over at Thor and Loki. She was feeling very much out of her element. On Earth, there wasn't much information she couldn't get her hands on nor were there many places she wasn't at least familiar with. Out here, she had had to rely on Thor and unfortunately Loki's knowledge and she hated it.

"Yes." Loki glanced over at Natasha. "He earned the name 'The Collector' because he collects things...everything. The bizarre, the unique, the illegal, even the mundane. Over time, this 'habit' meant that he had formed a rather large network that was not exactly prone to following rules."

"He's the head of a crime syndicate?" Natasha frowned at Thor and Loki. "That was the best option to guard an Infinity Stone?"

"Apparently." Loki tapped Thor on the shoulder as an escort ship appeared out of the clouds.

Peter, Natasha, and Tony moved back towards the main compartment. Peter tapped a screen. "FRIDAY, scan the mining colony. What's the atmosphere like?" At home, FRIDAY and Karen we're connected to everything through a satellite network. It's how they could be in multiple places with the same shared knowledge. Out here they didn't have the benefit of a satellite system. There was some concern over being able to integrate the two FRIDAY's once they returned but they hadn't had many other options. Trying to install a new AI and then get them up to speed would have taken too much time.

"Atmosphere analysis indicates that you shouldn't require additional breathing assistance. The oxygen content is slightly higher than what you're used to but it shouldn't bother you."

Peter looked up at his dad and Natasha. "So, we don't have to wear suits." He watched Natasha walk over to a storage bin and press her palm against the scanner. He heard the faint click and watched her pick through the weapons cache. Several knives, guns, and gauntlets later she looked over at Peter and Tony. "I'm assuming neither one of you has ever visited a mining town?" Based on the stares she was receiving she assumed the answer was no. "Mining is dangerous work. Which means it generally pays well. Towns crop up next to mining operations with the simple goal of giving the miners somewhere to spend their money." She fastened the strap on the last leg holster before looking back up at Tony and Peter. "Plus it's run by and organized crime syndicate." She looked pointedly at Peter. "I know you're familiar with that type."

"Ok, point taken. Luckily, all of our weapons are easily transported." Tony tapped his arc reactor. He did grab his glasses off the shelf. Being able to scan would be useful.

xxxxxxxxxx

Peter looked around and felt incredibly out of place. It wasn't that he led a sheltered life but outside of ops missions he hung out with his friends in relatively clean places. Where they were now was definitely not clean. He could smell the stench of sweat and alcohol everywhere. There were other smells that he tried not to think too hard about. Thor had known where to go to find The Collector but apparently they had to wait until someone retrieved them. So they waited. In the Boot of Jemiah. Peter wasn't sure how much longer he could stay inside the building, if you could even call it that. Between the smells and the fights that were breaking out every couple minutes that caused his Spidey sense to spike he was going to overload if he didn't do something.

Steve recognized the look on Peter's face. The smell was enough to bother him so he knew Peter was having problems with it. "Come on kid, neither one of us needs to stay in here much longer." He nodded to Tony as he nudged Peter towards the exit. Stopping on the steps he sat down. "Did you ever think you'd be sitting on steps outside of a bar called 'The Boot of Jemiah' located in the severed head of a Celestial?"

Peter sat on the step next to him. "I don't think this was on anyone's radar." He looked around them at the people coming and going. It was almost like a busy New York weekend except the people walking around were occasionally green, or pink, or had tentacles.

Steve looked over at Peter. "You doing ok kid? You bounce a lot between being overly excited about being in space to being quiet and reserved."

Peter shrugged. "I feel guilty about leaving. I mean I think I really am supposed to be on the mission and part of me is incredibly excited about being in space. I mean...we're in a Celestial's skull right now." He glanced over at Steve. "And then I feel guilty about being excited about it because maybe I came because I wanted to not because I had to."

Steve studied the expression on Peter's face. He thought there was more there but he wasn't sure what it was. "Look, there's nothing that says you can't enjoy a mission. Tony told me what Wanda said and I talked to Vision too. I don't know how or why they see the things they do. Regardless of that, you're always an asset to a mission. And, I think you came on this one because you thought it was the best chance at keeping everybody at home safe. So stop beating yourself up. You can't be at two places at once."

Peter started to reply when the rest of the team exited The Boot accompanied by a pink skinned female.

"The Collector will see you now."


	2. The Collector

"I present to you, Taneleer Tivan, the Collector."

Her voice had a sing song quality to it as she gestured to the man sitting behind a desk, studying a small ring bearing a gemstone. The group had followed the pink skinned female into an expansive room with various sized containers holding everything from plants to people. Peter clinched his jaw as he walked by containers holding living beings, very much aware that his companions were doing the same.

The Collector slid the ring onto a finger and rose to walk around his work table. "It is truly an honor to have the King of Asgard in my presence. It is even more thrilling to also have the Crown Prince of Asgard and Jotumheim. But to also have Terrans...". Tivan bowed in reverence to his guests. Standing upright, he looked at the group. "What brings you to my humble collection?"

"Lady Sif and Volstagg brought you the Aether. You were to ensure that it remained safe. We are here to see that you kept your word."

Peter watched Thor. Up until now he had not seemed like the same person you heard stories about - the God of Thunder that could take out entire legions with a swing of his hammer. Now, he had both the sound and the mannerisms of someone you did not want to mess with.

"Ah, the Aether. Such a spectacular addition to my collection, but then again I suspect you understand it's significance." Tivan turned to his assistant, "Carina, please retrieve the Aether so our guests can be assured of its safety." He turned back to the group as Carina disappeared into a side alcove. "How are Lady Sif and Volstagg."

"Volstagg died at the hands of Hela. But, you probably knew that." Loki had wandered over to one of the containers holding what looked like the remains of another pink skinned female. With a look of disinterest he maneuvered to another display before looking back at Tivan. "Being an Elder, you have the ability to know quite a bit."

Tivan looked at Loki before turning back to the group. His demeanor had changed. Gone was the gracious host, in its place was someone you knew was formidable. "I do."

Loki turned away from the displays. "Not just any Elder. An original Elder. One that was entrusted to act as guardian to an Infinity Stone."

Tony watched Tivan nod in response to Loki's statement. "So how is it that you no longer had a stone in your custody. At least not until they brought you the Aether." He had already scanned most of the room. Besides an extraordinary collection of biological items and artifacts, there weren't any hidden weapons caches, although he didn't think Tivan needed something as mundane as a weapon.

Carina reappeared in the alcove holding a containment unit. Tivan took the container from Carina and held it in front of him, staring at the red, swirling matter. "The Aether has always been mine. Odin knew as much which is why he sent it to me." He looked up, "Ages before, when Celestial's like Jemiah and Gammenon roamed the universe, the stones were entrusted to the Elders. We protected them. Our very existence, our purpose was to ensure their safety. Alone they are very powerful. Together, they are unstoppable." He set the container on the table. "We knew a threat was coming from another realm. We could see it. And we knew we could defeat it with the stones, but only together. So we did. But, once we used the Stones for their purpose, they became known. And they were hunted. Hiding them seemed to be our only option."

Steve crossed his arms and looked at Tivan. "You weren't able to protect them yourself?"

Tivan chuckled, "In retrospect, we probably should have held on to them. We could have protected them, but...we also felt the draw of their power." Tivan stared at the containment device. "The power they hold is intoxicating. Once we wielded it we knew we would do so again. We hid them independently, at least that was the plan."

Natasha walked over to look at the containment unit next to Loki. It held some kind of plant with red flowers that Natasha suspected were probably poisonous. "Where are the other Elders...the original six."

"That my dear, is a complicated question." Tivan looked at the group. He knew they weren't leaving without answers and he found himself wanting to actually tell the story. It wasn't often that anyone wanted to hear about who he was. "Out of the original six, four are dead or in hiding. Tryco Slatteeus was the original guardian of the Power Stone." With the wave of his hand, an image appeared of a large man obviously engaged in battle. "When we defeated the threat, we did so at a cost. Tryco was arrogant. It cost him his life." The image Tivan has conjured showed the mighty warrior as well as a shadowy creature collapse to the ground.

Tivan continued, lost in the tales he was spinning from another time. "Gilpetperdon was the guardian of the Space Stone." The image from before morphed into a golden man. "I actually don't know if he's really dead. I just know he never returned from hiding his Stone." The image again morphed, this time into a figure wearing a red cloak. "Agamotto likewise disappeared when hiding his Stone, although we suspected that he had planned on staying with it. The Time Stone was under his protection and no one has seen the that particular stone in quite a while."

"Ord Zyonz was responsible for Soul Stone. He hid his Stone as agreed." The image morphed again, but this time it was not a figure but rather a beautiful garden filled with plants and flowers. "When he no longer had the purpose of guarding the Soul Stone, he filled the void by becoming obsessed with spreading and creating life." He looked at the group watching the images he was conjuring. "It started, like it did for all of us, as an extension of our original purpose. For Ord, it turned into something more. Something twisted." The image of the garden morphed into a ball of impossibly bright light, then tendrils spread out from the orb, reaching planets and wrapping around them. "He said he had grown beyond what he was. He believed he had transformed into a Celestial." The ball of light morphed into the shape of a man and Tivan shrugged. "Maybe he did, but in the end he was destroyed by his son."

Natasha watched the figure made of light collapse into darkness. "And the last one?"

Tivan laughed. "The last one is my brother. We don't talk much. You can find him on Sakaar."

"Your brother is The Grandmaster?" Disbelief was apparent in Loki's voice. He looked over at Thor to gauge his reaction.

"Why don't you talk to him?" Natasha prodded. The information they were getting was informative but didn't really solve their problem of finding a safe harbor for the Space Stone.

Tivan studied Natasha. Out of the Terrans, she seemed the deadliest and it really had nothing to do with the visible weapons. "I made a deal in order to secure a very valuable artifact." He glanced around the room, twisting the ring on his finger subconsciously. "My brother lost something in the process."

Tony rubbed his head. "So you're telling me that the only two Elders remaining that are capable of guarding the Stones are you and your brother. And you two aren't talking."

Peter looked over at his dad. The resigned look on his face definitely said 'we're going to end up doing this ourselves'.

Tivan looked at his guests. "Why do you think they need to be protected?"

Loki walked back to the main group. "You know Xandar has been destroyed?"

Tivan nodded. "Yes, although I'm surprised you do. That's knowledge isn't widely known yet."

Thor stepped forward. "There is another threat. They already have the Power Stone. They will come after the others."

Tivan returned to his desk. "I have seen what happens when the Stones are gathered. It is in my best interest to prevent that from happening...to a certain point." Tivan paused. He was sure they understood his meaning. He would not sacrifice his own life to save the Stone. But, he would protect it up to that point. "Understand that an Elder can not protect two Stones. Even if you convince my brother to protect one, there are four others without a guardian. If an enemy were to collect even two..."

"All we're concerned about right now is that you protect the Aether." Steve had moved to stand next to Thor.

"Then our business is concluded. I have told you I plan to keep the Aether in my possession." He paused a moment. "The Power Stone is formidable. If it is held by someone who intends to destroy the Universe it must be retrieved. The Power Stone could enable the bearer to take the others by force."

"Finding the Power Stone is on the to do list." Tony had wandered over to a table holding artifacts. FRIDAY was in the process of scanning the contents.

"Ord's son might be able to help. There are stories that he has held the Power Stone in his hand and it did not destroy him." Tivan had already weighed the outcome. The Power Stone remaining in the hands of an enemy would not turn out well for him. He could use the Asgardians and the Terrans to his advantage. "He can probably be found on Contraxia. He goes by the name of Quill." Satisfied that he had given them enough information to do what they needed to do in order to protect him, he turned to look at Carina. "Please show our guests out."

Carina nodded and moved through the group. "Please follow me."

Peter turned to follow Carina. He had been at the rear of the group. As they retreated, they passed the container holding the remains of the pink skinned female. "Who was she?"

Carina stiffened, her eyes darting over to the container before looking straight ahead again. "That was Carina, The Collector's assistant. I am the second one to replace her."

Peter frowned. "I thought you were Carina."

Carina kept her eyes forward. "We are all Carina."

Peter's frown deepened. "Are you a clone?"

Carina stopped in front of the door leading outside. "No." She looked back at the rest of the group, plastering a smile on her face as she opened the door for them to leave. "I hope you enjoyed your visit to The Collector."

xxxxxxxxxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that was a lot of exposition! I hope it wasn't too complicated. I had started re-watching Guardians of the Galaxy, vol 2 so I could get a feel for some of the characters (because they're making an appearance). I also generally do some reading online about whatever character I'm trying to write just so I can pull pieces of their overall backstory into the story I'm writing - which means I've been reading up on the Elders. I'm taking some liberties with them but one of the Elders is "The Gardener" (that's Ord). And, I'll be honest, I feel like some of Ego's backstory in the MCU came from Ord. There are a lot of similarities. So much so when you see Ego's planet for the first time 'he's The Gardener' popped into my head. So, in this story...that's who he is.
> 
> Next up: Rendezvous with the other teams, The Grandmaster, and Contraxia. We'll probably pop back to Earth too! As always comments are appreciated!


	3. Rendezvous

Peter stepped back onto their ship, followed by the others. Hatch closing behind them, Thor walked over to one of the storage bins and picked up Mjølnir. Placing his palm on the scanner a door slid open revealing the cube. Peter looked at the rest of the team, "One cube, all is good." He looked at Thor as he the door slid closed. "So no one can pick up Mjølnir?"

"So far, no one but Vision. And it hasn't been from lack of trying." Thor placed the Hammer back on the storage bin. "Your father and Rhodey even tried to use their suits."

Loki pushed by Thor. "You are fortunate brother, that Hela didn't destroy it."

Thor nodded. He saw the expectant looks on everyone's face. "I threw it at her and she caught it. It didn't exactly go as planned. A few minutes later I fell out of a wormhole and landed on a trash pile on Sakaar."

Steve had sat down at the controls and started going through preflight. He had paid attention when Thor had landed so he had a general idea of how to get out of dock. "Speaking of, where are we headed?"

Tony walked towards the cockpit. "I don't think we have enough time to get to Sakaar before we have to hit our rendezvous point."

"Rendezvous point it is." Steve tapped their coordinates and pulled on a headset to listen to the control booth issue instructions.

"FRIDAY, see anything interesting?" Tony sat down in the seats behind the cockpit and waited for FRIDAY to pull up information.

"Define interesting, Boss. Tanaleer Tivan has an extensive collection. It will take me a few minutes to catalog and cross reference."

Tony looked up at the team. "Thoughts? I don't necessarily have a warm fuzzy feeling about Tivan's interest in saving the universe."

"No, but I think he's invested in saving his own hide." Natasha sat down opposite of Tony. "The mission is still the mission. Stash the Space Stone, find the Power Stone. Find the big bad. Kill it." She took a bite of an apple and pulled her booted foot up in the seat.

Loki leaned against the bulkhead and crossed his arms. "So we're headed to Sakaar. Wonderful. I can't imagine what will go wrong with that."

Thor looked over at Loki. "I'm sure The Grandmaster won't hold a grudge."

Peter sank into the seat next to his dad, looking up at Thor. "Why would he hold a grudge?"

"We started a revolution and took his favorite champion and scrapper." Thor glanced over at Loki. Maybe Loki was correct in being worried about The Grandmaster.

xxxxxxxxxx

Carol slowed her approach. She was nearing the coordinates for the first check-in. She had almost blown it off, but she was curious to find out if the others had made progress yet. She didn't have a lot to report. It seemed like she was chasing a ghost. She slowed to almost a stop when she saw the two ships. Choosing the Quinjet, she phased through the airlock. "Permission to come aboard?"

"You're supposed to ask that before you actually come aboard." Steve looked up from the communications display showing Reed and his team. "But, yes, and good timing. Reed just got here."

"We mapped a few of the wormholes. We're transmitting the data to you. There are a couple more we want to map before we head into the the expanse between the galaxies." Reed hesitated for a moment. "Tony, we're picking up readings that indicate a significant amount of anti-matter."

Tony frowned. "I'm assuming you've run the numbers and the shielding is sufficient?"

Reed nodded, "Trust me. I've run the numbers multiple times. No one wants a repeat incident. And, before you ask, I know what the limits are on propulsion. If we pick up readings of a gravity well we'll back off."

Tony nodded. He knew Reed understood what was at stake. The only reason they were investigating the area was because it might be where the seventh stone was hiding. "Be careful."

"Of course. So how was your trip to Knowhere?"

Natasha leaned forward. "Informative. We have a line on an Elder that we're checking out next. If we feel like we can trust him, we'll leave the Space Stone with him. Then, we have a lead on someone that might be able to help track the Power Stone." She looked over at Carol. "What do you know about Contraxia?"

"It's a well known hang out for the Ravagers." Carol frowned. "Who are you looking for?"

"Someone by the name of Quill." Natasha responded. "Ravagers are the space pirates, right?"

Carol nodded. "There's a code they follow, but they'll also kill you without thinking twice." She looked over at Tony and Peter. "You'll probably want to go in with your suits on."

Peter nodded. "There are some nice planets out here, right?"

Carol smiled. "If you don't make it to one on this trip, I'll take you to one afterwards. There are quite a few wonderful planets full of kind people."

Peter responded with a grin. "Have you found anything on the survivor from Xandar or the bad guy?"

"Nothing on the bad guy. I keep hearing reports of minor damage but by the time I get there no one can tell me anything." She frowned. "But I don't think it's our threat. I think it's our survivor. All of the damage seems unintentional. It kind of reminds me of some of the damage I did experimenting with my powers."

Steve crossed his arms. "You think our survivor has newly acquired powers?"

Carol shrugged. "They were the only survivor and probably in close proximity to the Power Stone. It's possible. I've got a couple ideas about where he might go next so I'm going on to try to get there first."

Steve nodded. "Ok. So we all have our next steps. Meet back in a week?"

"FRIDAY, upload the mission reports and the scans from Knowhere. Home has better processing." They had dropped boosters to this point so they knew they could send a message home, although talking in real time wasn't a possibility.

"Upload complete."

"Thanks FRIDAY." Tony leaned back in the chair and looked over at Thor and Steve. "I guess we need to plot the quickest path to Sakaar." He thought he heard Loki almost growl. He hoped their previous experience hadn't made their current mission more challenging.

Carol made her way to the airlock. "Good luck." With a wave she phased through the airlock.

Tony looked at Peter. "I'm never going to get used to that."

Peter shrugged. "I've seen Kitty do it so many times it doesn't bother me." He stood up, "I'm going down to the crew quarters and see if MJ sent a message." Peter walked down the steps into the silence of the crew quarters. "FRIDAY, has MJ been given the video I left?"

"Not yet Peter, as per your instructions." FRIDAY paused, "She did send a message. Would you like me to play it?"

xxxxxxxxxx

Loki landed on the bottom step. Seeing Peter stretched out on what was sufficing as a sofa, he turned to retreat back up to the main level.

"You don't have to leave." Peter swung his legs off and sat up.

"My apologies, I wasn't aware you were in the common area." When Peter had disappeared earlier, Loki had assumed he had retired for the night. They had individual sleeping areas, so Loki hadn't expected to see Peter when he came downstairs.

"It's just quieter down here." Peter nodded to one of the chairs and waited for Loki to sit down. "Sometimes it gets too loud to think." He looked over at Loki almost apologetically.

"Your senses are heightened?" After receiving a nod he offered a smile. "I noticed your discomfort in the bar." He smirked when he saw the Peter realize that he just revealed his weakness to someone that had once been considered an enemy. "I will not use it against you." He studied the look on Peter's face, as if the boy was trying to decide if he believed him. "What do you have weighing on your mind that you required silence?"

Peter looked down. Loki certainly didn't seem like he was interested in trying to take over Earth. "I just worry that I've abandoned my responsibilities at home by coming."

"Your responsibilities?" Loki looked at Peter. He couldn't fathom what this boy considered his responsibilities.

"Yeah, well...it's not like I've been the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in a while. Miles pretty much took that over, but I still cover for him when he needs it. But I have a SHIELD team, of course 2 of them are with Reed. I left Bobby and Davis at home running ops on their own with the X-Men. They don't even have Bucky and Sam as back up because Sam had to step in for Steve and Nat and Bucky is keeping an eye on MJ." Peter took a breath, "And then I left MJ by herself." He looked over at Loki, expecting to see amusement. But instead, he saw...understanding.

"But you didn't leave MJ by herself, you said Sargent Barnes was 'keeping an eye on her' and I imagine she also has Mrs. Stark and Young Morgan also 'keeping an eye on her'." Loki smiled, "MJ reminded me very much of Thor's Jane Foster. Quite capable. Remarkable women are also generally quite resilient."

Peter sighed, "She is. And she keeps reminding me that she knew what she was signing up for." Peter sat back and looked over at Loki. He actually felt better than he had before. "Loki,...". Peter fought off the urge to fall back into the habit of addressing people a little more formally. "You don't seem like someone who tried to take over Earth and destroyed half of Manhattan."

Loki took a deep breath. "I made some choices that led me down that path. Odin was not always the easiest to get along with. Neither was Thor. I found out Odin had taken me when I was a baby and raised me as his own, but not as an heir to the throne, but rather as an insurance policy." Loki looked down at his hands rather than look at Peter. "I was always the mischievous son. I was offered an option and I took it without asking questions. By the time I realized what Thanos was planing I was already under control of the Mind Stone." He looked up at Peter. "I can't promise you that I wouldn't have done the same things had I not been under his control but I can tell you that I would like for Thor to see me as more than what I was."

Peter studied Loki. He didn't think Loki had told anyone the things he had just revealed. He knew his dad certainly didn't know Loki had been under control of the Mind Stone. "Family can sometimes be difficult and make us make questionable choices...just give me a heads up if you feel like destroying Manhattan again. We can probably find a better outlet."

xxxxxxxxx

Tony paused halfway down the steps when he heard laughter coming from the crew quarters.

_"The Hulk gave me a terrible beating in New York. I was sore for days. I still wake up in a cold sweat sometimes. Anyway, Thor is in the gladiator ring waiting for The Grandmaster's champion. The crowds are cheering and I can tell Thor is getting a little worried about what he might be facing. The doors to the ring slide open, and out walks the Hulk. All I can hear is Thor laughing and yelling 'It's ok...he's a friend from work!' Then he looks up at me and says...'Loki...look who it is!"_

Tony could hear Peter laughing uncontrollably at this point so he continued down the steps. He couldn't help but to almost start laughing himself. Peter was almost in the floor he was laughing so hard.

"Hey dad! Loki was telling me about The Grandmaster." He brushed his hand across his face in an attempt to stop laughing. Loki had already told him about Thor being called 'sparkles' so it hadn't taken much for him to completely lose it over the next story.

"I hate to break up the party but you and I have to be up in about six hours to relieve Steve and Nat." Tony looked over at Loki as the man rose to his feet.

"I should also be turning in." Loki nodded his head and retreated to his quarters.

Tony reached down and pulled Peter up. "You ok kid?"

"I'm good dad." Peter followed to the crew quarters. "FRIDAY will get us up, right?"

"Yep. Get some sleep Spiderling."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Mjølnir wasn't destroyed in this timeline. Another little shift from the MCU timeline. I can't decide if I want to replicate a Cap/Mjølnir moment or even a Spidey/Mjølnir moment...haven't decided yet so I'm keeping it in reserve. Thoughts?


	4. The Grandmaster

"It's a literal trash planet." Peter looked out of the cockpit window as Natasha maneuvered to dock at the tall tower in the center of the city. The tower itself looked like it was constructed from the remains of various ships. They had seen what looked like a ship graveyard as they flew towards the tower.

Loki glanced over at Thor. "You do not think it's best that I remain on the ship?"

"No." The answer came in a chorus of voices. Thor was the one who offered additional input. "Loki, we both fell through a wormhole. You ended up an honored guest. I ended up as a slave gladiator. You're coming."

"Fine."

Peter and Tony triggered both of their armors, although they left the helmet and mask off. They weren't positive what kind of reception they were going to receive so having armor already on hopefully sent a message.

The airlock opened and the team stepped out into an ornate hallway. They could hear echoes of a welcoming coming from various hallways.

_”Fear not, for you are found. You are home, and there is no going back. No one leaves this place. But what is this place? The answer is Sakaar. Surrounded by cosmic gateways, Sakaar lives on the edge of the known and unknown. It is the collection point for all lost and unloved things. Like you. But here on Sakaar, you are significant. You are valuable. Here, you are loved."_

Thor looked over at Steve and Tony. "It was bizarre the first time I heard it too.” His attention was drawn to the end of a hall where a figure appeared, dressed in the signature grey and gold. "But, it would seem like The Grandmaster is still in charge."

"Follow me." The guard gruffly spoke to the visitors, not giving them more than a quick look. They were led to an ornate room, almost gaudy in its decor. Stand in front of a window overlooking the city was a tall man. From the back all they could see were the gold robes. The guard stopped and stood to the side. "The Grandmaster."

Turning around The Grandmaster looked at his guard. "You're supposed to have a little more spunk. You're even more of a downer than Topaz was." Looking over at his guests, he added "What have you brought me?" A moment later a look of recognition dawned across his face. "The insurgents! And you brought friends!" He clapped his hands together in obvious glee. He turned to the guard. "Bring food and drink for our guests."

Thor looked questioningly at The Grandmaster. "We weren't sure of the reception we would receive. We thought you might be a little upset at how we left."

"Upset? Well, I was at first, but Sparkles, that was the most fun I've had in a long time." He gestured to a seating area and urged them to sit. "And this time you brought Terrans! I love the timelines when Earth has superhero's. You never know if they're going to destroy everything or save the universe. It's just so exciting." The Grandmaster looked over at Tony. "Is this the timeline with the planet that worships Iron Man?"

"I don't know, is it? Because that's a fantastic idea and we should definitely visit it." Tony grinned at Peter.

The Grandmaster looked as if he was trying to remember, then an expression of disappointment crossed his face. "No, no. It's another one."

"Too bad." Tony looked at The Grandmaster, "When you say 'timelines'..."

"Oh, I see all of them. It's part of my charm." He looked up as a series of servants places trays of food and drink on the tables around them. Picking up a drink and taking a sip he looked at the group. "I also know you've spoken to my sorry excuse for a brother." Glancing over at Peter who was inspecting one of the drinks, "That one is safe for humans." He pointed at a different one. "Don't drink that one."

Peter glanced over, knowing his dad would have scanned the food and drink. Since he had a glass of the same drink in his hands that he was currently taking a sip of, he followed suit. "How do you know we've talked to your brother."

"That would give away all of my secrets, now wouldn't it." He sat back in his chair, resting his elbows on the arms and tapping his fingers together. "Did he tell you about my niece? He thinks I'm mad about Thanos, I'm more upset about what's going on with her."

Steve leaned forward, "Thanos? He left this timeline. What's there to be mad about?"

The Grandmaster waived his hand in dismissal. "He told him where to find the Mind Stone in exchange for a piece of jewelry." He looked at the group. "The Mind Stone, the one I was supposed to be guardian of and we all magnanimously decided to hide so we wouldn't be corrupted by their power. I'm assuming you don't need me to tell you the story again."

Natasha leaned back and studied The Grandmaster. "If you had it to do all over again, would you still hide it?"

The Grandmaster studied Natasha. "No. If each guardian had held onto their stone, they would have been protected. The only true way you could take a stone from an elder is if you had one of the other stones. The fear was that one of us would have tried to take them from the others."

Steve, elbows resting on his knees, looked at The Grandmaster. "Well, there's also the problem that the Power Stone guardian was dead and it was left without a guardian."

The Grandmaster shrugged. "We could have found another guardian." He looked at the group of six sitting in front of him. "Shall we just cut to the chase...yes I can keep the Space Stone safe. No, I won't use it for nefarious purposes."

Peter sat back. With every word out of The Grandmaster's mouth, it was like he had been a participant in every conversation. "I have two questions."

Tony turned to look at Peter, but not before catching the smile on The Grandmaster's face.

"I think it was a ring and he tried to turn her into a weapon and drove her off."

Peter stared at The Grandmaster. "You can read minds."

The Grandmaster nodded. "You would think it would be a fun skill to have but after 14 billion years, I'm tired of always knowing what people are thinking."

"So you knew we were planning to escape." Loki leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees. "And let us do it anyway."

The Grandmaster nodded, "You have no idea how bored I get. Having the prisoners with jobs start a coup was exciting for a couple days." He looked at each member of the group. "So, are you going to let me have it."

xxxxxxxxxx

MJ...it's 7:00, let's go." Bucky yelled from the elevator door. Not getting a response he stepped into the hallway and let the doors close behind him. "MJ?" Still not, getting a response he looked up at he ceiling. It was a habit he hadn't been able to break. "FRIDAY, give me a location on MJ. And vitals."

"MJ is in her room. Her vitals are within normal range, however..."

Bucky didn't wait to hear the rest of it, crossing the distance to the bedroom, he pushed the door open. "MJ...". He stopped when he saw her exiting the bathroom.

"Not running today. Dinner from last night is not agreeing with me." MJ sat down in a chair next to the dresser and looked up at Bucky. She really could just crawl back into bed and sleep for another hour, but she was expecting him to completely overreact.

"Ok, well it's not food poisoning since you, Pepper, Morgan, Rhodey and I all had the same thing last night." He knelt down in front of her and put the back of his hand on her forehead. "Karen, whats MJ's temperature."

MJ shook her head. "Peter took Karen off my watch. Something about being worried about integrating the two back together since she's in his suit." She took in the look of surprise on Bucky's face, so she held her wrist up. "ILYA, say hello to Bucky."

"Hello Bucky."

Bucky frowned, the voice was slightly different than Karen's. Karen had always reminded Bucky of a soccer mom. "ILYA?"

"ILYA, tell Bucky what your name stands for." She smirked at Bucky waiting for the inevitable snarky comment.

"Peter named me ILYA which means I Love You Always."

Bucky rolled his eyes eyes. "God, Peter is such a sap. Back to the question...what's MJ's temperature?"

"Her temperature is slightly elevated, however still within normal ranges."

"Ok...let's go see Dr. Cho." Bucky stood up and waited for MJ to rise.

"She could be in Korea." MJ stayed stubbornly planted in the chair.

"She's at the compound. Davis and Bobby's team came in hot from their last mission." Bucky held out his hand. "Please? I told Peter I'd make sure you stayed safe. Staying healthy is part of the deal."

MJ sighed, "Fine"


	5. Contraxia

"Pepper, I didn't think you were at the compound." MJ put down the tablet she had been working on and looked at the door as it pushed open. Bucky had thankfully left her in the exam room. She had been a little concerned that he wasn't going to let her out of his sight but once he had turned her over to Dr. Cho he had left to check on Davis.

"I had to coordinate some of the Asgard relocation with Brunnhilde. FRIDAY let me know Bucky brought you to see Dr. Cho." Pepper crossed over to stand next to MJ and put her hand on her forehead. "No fever."

MJ rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. I just felt a little sick this morning and Bucky overreacted."

"Uh huh...you've been tired and I know for a fact this hasn't been the first time you've felt a little sick." Pepper smiled at MJ, "You don't think that maybe..."

"No!" MJ pushed herself further upright on the exam table. "Pepper...just no." She locked eyes with Pepper. "No."

"Would it really be so bad?" Pepper smiled sympathetically.

MJ shook her head. "You don't understand. It would be great. We talked about it but it was such a slim chance. But...". She looked over at Pepper.."he's not here." She left the rest of it unsaid. Peter wasn't here and they weren't sure when they'd be back. And this was something she wanted him here for and she knew he wanted to be here for it.

Pepper sighed, "But don't you think we should find out?"

xxxxxxxxxx

"Try not to worry about them. Reed left a message on the communication relay that he didn't think they could make it back in time for the rendezvous." Tony leaned against the bulkhead. Reed's message had been brief. It had taken them longer to get to the void than they thought and didn't want to waste time to come back to the rendezvous point. Communication in space was challenging at best.

Peter leaned against the opposite bulkhead. "I know. There was just something reassuring about seeing everyone." He glanced toward the cockpit. "How long until we get to Contraxia?"

"Maybe a couple minutes. FRIDAY have any messages from home?" Natasha glanced down at the cockpit displays. They were utilizing one of the wormholes that had been mapped. After the initial amazement, it pretty much looked the same all the time.

"Yes. Sam sent you and Steve one. Brunnhilde sent one to Thor and Loki. Dad and I have one from Pepper, MJ and Morgan." They hadn't had time to listen to them yet. Once they had determined that Carol also wasn't showing at the rendezvous point, they hit the closest wormhole and headed to Contraxia. Peter looked over at Thor and Loki. "Do either of you know anything about Contraxia or the Ravagers?"

Both Asgardians shook their heads. "I haven't had any personal dealing with the Ravagers but I have heard they are remarkably brutal. They abide by an internal code but have no problem killing someone simply for looking at them." Loki looked at the group. "I believe a show of strength might be appropriate."

They all felt the shift when they came out of the wormhole. Contraxia was just on the other side of it. Tony looked over at Peter. "Suit up."

'Suit up' was so much easier now. As he tapped his wrist to trigger the nanites, Peter thought back to how he used to change into his other suit in alleys and rooftops, webbing his backpack to a wall. The suit formed around him. This was so much easier. The nanites stopped at his neck. He had intentionally left the mask off for now.

As soon as they were secured in the landing berth, Natasha made her way out of the cockpit and began strapping on the her normal accompaniment of weapons. "Ready boys?" She glanced over at Peter. "Turn your heater on. Surface temperature is a little colder than you're going to like."

Peter nodded and formed his mask. Cold had never been his favorite so he relished the warmth that his suit was generating. As they stepped off the ramp, the sights and sounds of Contraxia assaulted him. His lenses narrowed as he looked around. The neon was nauseating as it reflected on the snowy ground. "What is this place?"

"This is a place that you are entirely too young for." Tony descended the ramp behind Peter and looked around at the neon sign advertising 'Love Bots'. "Hell, I'm too young to be here. Cap may even be too young to be here."

Peter rolled his eyes under his mask. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Seriously, do not tell Pepper that I let you come here." Tony stopped next to Steve. "Do we know where we're going?"

Steve shook his head. "All we know is his name is Quill, right?"

Thor nodded. "And he was part of the battle on Xandar a nine years ago."

"I suggest we start in the bar." Loki nodded his head towards what seemed like the appropriate direction.

Making their way towards what seemed like the largest bar, they were more than aware of the stares they were receiving. Peter took In the faces they were passing. He wasn't sure what he was expecting space pirates to look like, but he wasn't sure this was it. He nudged his dad. "That guy reminds me of the guy from that old boxing movie."

Tony looked in the direction Peter was indicating and shrugged. "Maybe. You're about to get an up close look."

Stakar Orgord planted himself in front of the new arrivals and sized them up. Two Asgardians, two in armor that more than likely held weaponry, one guy about his size with a shield on his back and a female that was carrying more weaponry than he was and he suspected she had more that couldn't be seen. "Most are afraid to visit a place frequented by Ravager Clans. What business do you have."

Thor stopped in front of Stakar. "Information only. We're looking for a man named Quill."

Stakar laughed. "What did he do this time?"

"We just need to talk to him." Steve had come to a stop next to Thor. They really didn't need this to turn into a fight.

Stakar gave the group a final look before nodding his head in the direction of the bar. "Don't make a mess."

The group continued through the door of the bar, aware that Stakar was still watching. The scene in front of them wasn't much different than a bar on Earth. "Ok, split up. Like the man said, don't make a mess."

Peter followed Natasha to one side of the bar, listening as they walked through the crowd of people. Focusing his hearing he picked up the name 'Quill'. Nodding his head toward the sound he followed as she snaked her way through the mass of people.

_"So Quill, being the dumbass that he is, decided to try his luck. He looks at this blue skinned chick and says 'you can thank me later for saving you' and she just turned around and walked off. Thirty seconds later the entire royal guard shows up and try's to arrest him. Apparently it's illegal to hit on the queen."_

Peter stopped next to Natasha. "Is that what I think it is?"

"That is a talking raccoon standing next to a tree and he seems to know Quill." Things had stopped surprising Natasha a long time ago however this one was new. Walking over to the bar she leaned against it and leaned over to Rocket. "I was wondering if you could help me out."

Peter watched Rocket look over at Natasha. He had watched her over the years convince anyone of anything and make them think it was their idea. He couldn't wait to see how it worked on a talking raccoon.

Rocket eyed the woman that had moved next to him. The weapons were low key and he suspected she had more he couldn't see, but what caught his eye was the glow from her bracelets. "I can help you out...for a price. What do you want to know?"

"We need to find Quill." Natasha glanced up at the tree standing next to the raccoon.

"I am Groot."

"Yeah, yeah, let me do the talking." Rocket leaned in, "If I tell you where to find Quill, I want one of the glowing things from your bracelet."

Natasha leaned in to match the raccoon. "Not mine to trade. We're not here to hurt him. We just need his help."

Rocket straightened up, "If you need his help then you definitely need our help. What does the job pay?"

Natasha glanced over at Peter and frowned when she realized he was studying the tree.

"I am Groot." Groot looked down at Peter.

"I am Peter." Peter gestured to himself, not knowing what else to do.

Groot turned to look at Rocket. "I am Groot?"

"Well, you didn't think he was the only one named Peter, did you?" Rocket looked at Groot with a definite look of exasperation. "Although why you'd name a robot Peter is beyond me."

"I'm not a robot." Peter rebutted Rockets' assertion and was about to retract his mask when Natasha stood up.

"Ok, all I need is to find Quill. Where is he?" Natasha knew she had completely lost control of the conversation which put her very much outside her comfort zone.

"Why should I tell you?" Rocket focused his attention back on the woman in front of him, ignoring Groot and the robot that wasn't a robot.

Natasha leaned in and lowered her voice. "Because Xandar has been destroyed and the Power Stone is missing."

Rocket stared at her for a moment. "Shit. Follow me." Hopping up onto the bar, he stepped over peoples drinks and at times heads. "Quill!"

A brown haired man turned to look at the group headed his way. "Not now Rocket, I'm not in the mood."

Tony had kept an eye on Peter and Natasha, which was fairly easy considering how much Peter stood out. He and Steve worked their way to the other side of Quill.

"You're going to want to hear this." Rocket turned to look at the two he was leading over. "Tell him."

Natasha looked at Quill. "Xandar is gone."

"What do you mean gone? A planet just doesn't disappear." Quill took another sip of his drink.

"Not the whole planet. There's just nothing left on it. No people. And no stone." Tony leaned on the other side of Quill. He wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to help them find the Power Stone.

Quill took another sip of his drink. "That's impossible. The Nova Corp would have stopped them."

Tony placed a holographic display on the bar in front of Quill. Carol had brought them images of the destruction when she had visited originally. He pulled them up and waited for Quill's eyes to take in the images.

"Shit. Xandar's been destroyed." Quill picked up the display and handed it back.

"What do you mean Xandar's been destroyed?" Kraglin's voice erupted from behind Quill.

Quill swiveled to look at Kraglin. He knew Kraglin hadn't called Xandar his home in a long time but it was still the place he was from. "Kraglin, we don't know if this is real."

"You can trust the images." Thor stopped to stand next to Kraglin.

"Stakar is going to want to know." Kraglin retreated from the bar, leaving Quill, Rocket, and Groot staring after him.

"Ok, we're starting to gather a lot of attention. Why don't we head outside." Steve glanced around. He wasn't sure if letting all of the Ravagers know that Xandar had been destroyed was wise.

Quill nodded and looked over at Rocket and Groot. "Find Drax and Mantis and meet us outside." Standing up he, made his way out of the bar, with the six strangers trailing behind. Once outside, he led them to a relative clear area. "Why find me to tell me Xandar is gone."

Tony retracted his mask and helmet. "It was suggested that you might be able to help us find the Power Stone. We need to find it. Whoever destroyed Xandar did so without the Power Stone. With it, imagine what they could do."

"I've see what that thing can do. I held it in my hand and it almost tore me apart." Quill looked up as Rocket and Groot rejoined them with Drax and Mantis. "I still don't know how I'm supposed to help you."

"You feel when it is close."

The group turned to look at the source of the soft voice. Antennas wavering, she said it again, "You feel when it is close. Every time we've been on Xandar you feel it."

Quill looked at Mantis with a look of disbelief. He started to argue but he realized that she might be right. He did feel different on Xandar than he did anywhere else. Maybe it did have to do with the Power Stone. "So what, we just fly around the universe until I 'feel' something?"

Before anyone could answer him, a bright burst of energy erupted over them, causing most of the neon to explode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The guardians are here...minus Gamora and Nebula. They both left with Thanos so they don’t exist in this timeline. As always, comments are appreciated!


	6. Separated

Another energy blast rocked the surface, sending everyone diving for cover. Tony's helmet and mask slid into position as the HUD lit up showing him targets. FRIDAY had painted all of the Ravagers as hostiles, partially because she didn't know who they were but also because they were all firing. "So much for not making a mess." Tony ignited his boot jets to get a better look at the attacker. Before he could spot whatever it was firing from the upper atmosphere, he had to dodge a blast from a group of Ravagers. "Quill, tell your people to stop firing at us."

Mask in place Quill flew up to meet the man yelling at him. "They're not my people!" He fired at a group of men all wearing a distinct mustard yellow color. "That's the Krugarr Clan and that's the Charlie-27 Clan." He spun around to fire at another group. "They've always hated each other so this is just a good excuse."

Tony glanced down as he spotted a shield flying past him, knocking down a group of Ravagers that had taken to the skies. Swooping down, he landed next to Steve, firing a repulsor at an attacking Ravager. "Have you spotted what fired the first shot?"

Steve shook his head and grabbed the shield as it rebounded, smoothly twisting around and hitting a Ravenger in the chest. "Whatever it is, it's above cloud level." He ducked to avoid another blast. "FRIDAY got eyes on everyone?"

Before Tony could answer, another blast came from above the clouds, followed by a blast much higher up. When he looked back down he realized it had opened a crevice. "FRIDAY, location on everyone." Dots glowed on his HUD with symbols next to each on. The two spider and the reindeer dots were showing below the surface. "Pete, why are you 30 feet below the surface?" Hearing nothing but static he hit his boot jets and headed for the crevice only to be knocked back by a round of weapons fire. Landing on his back next to Steve he glanced up at the clouds as bolts lightening flashed through the thick grayish white clouds. "Found Thor. Peter, Nat and Loki are all below the surface. Vitals seem ok."

Steve reached down and pulled Tony up, glancing over as Quill landed next to him. "Why are they shooting at each other?"

"Well, most of them are not the brightest crayon in the box." Quill fired at another group of Ravagers as Drax hurled one man into several others.

Tony frowned at the phrase Quill had used. "You're from Earth?"

"No, I'm from Missouri." Quill tapped his ear piece. "Rocket, where are you? We need to get off this rock and I'm cut off from the Benetar." Quill listened for a moment and then looked back at the two men. "Rocket's in the crevice with three of your people and Mantis. He thinks they can get through the tunnels to our ship. Where's your ship?"

xxxxxxxxxx

"How are you doing that?" Rocket looked at the boy that obviously wasn't a robot. "I mean, that's got to be at least a ton."

"Yeah, probably a little more. Loki, can you pull her out?" Mask retracted, he looked up from his position at Loki as he was attempting to pull Natasha out from under a pile of rubble that Peter was currently holding off of her. Most of the weight was on his back and it was starting to hurt a little, but more than that he definitely was starting to get flashes of being trapped under the warehouse rubble.

"I've almost got her." Loki shattered a piece of rock pinning Natasha's arm and finished pulling her out. "How are you planning on getting out?"

Peter bounced on his toes, getting ready to propel himself out from under the rubble. Sprinting forward he rolled as the debris fell behind him. "Like that."

Loki smirked and looked down at Natasha. She was unconscious but he thought she'd recover. "Any idea how we're getting out of here?"

Peter, still on his back, looked up at the crevice. The debris had filled in the hole to the surface. It was mostly made up of ice. They could probably break their way through but it was going to take time. With the firefight that had erupted on the surface, he wasn't sure they'd get help anytime soon.

"We can go through the tunnels. We can get to our ship that way."

Peter looked over at the raccoon that had some kind of flashlight in his hands. "But our ship is that way." He tapped his watch. After he had rolled, his suit had completely retracted. "Dad...". All he got was static in return.

Rocket shook his head. Terrans has terrible equipment for the most part. He tapped his own communications device. "Quill, were in the tunnels. We'll head to the Benetar." He paused for a second. "Make sure Groot is ok. If you die, I get all your stuff." He listened for a minute and then let out a sigh. "The guy in the red armor wants to talk to you." He tapped a button on his wrist and the sounds from the surface echoed through the cave. "Pete? You ok?"

Peter felt nothing but relief at hearing his father's voice. "I'm good. Nat's unconscious but it doesn't seem too bad. I've got Loki, the girl with the antennas and the raccoon with me." He looked around at the group. With Nat unconscious he wasn't sure how much backup he'd have if they ran into trouble, although the raccoon was carrying just as many weapons as Nat was and he was pretty sure Loki could handle himself as well.

"Quill says Rocket can get you all to their ship. We'll take Quill and his people out on ours. We'll send you rendezvous coordinates once we're up." Tony looked at the group assembled around him and cringed. The big guy reminded him of the Hulk, not much thought was going into what he was doing but he certainly put a dent into whatever he went after. The tree was still a little mind boggling but he had watched him spear a group and fling them across the battlefield. Quill was holding his own but he was still an unknown factor. At least he had Steve watching his back. Peter had Loki and that thought made his worry spike. He glanced over at Steve who had stiffened when Peter had reported Nat was unconscious. "Kid, be careful."

"We'll be fine. Where's Thor?"

"Dealing with whatever started this mess."

Peter looked over at Loki when he heard the response. Loki maintained a look of confidence. "Ok, see you in a few minutes." When the line disconnected there was an eerie silence when there was no longer the sound of gunfire echoing through the cabin. He gave a reassuring smile to Loki before looking back at their two companions. "I can't keep calling you antenna girl and raccoon." He extended his hand to the raccoon first, "I'm Peter."

Eyeing the hand extended to him for a moment, he gingerly reached out and put his paw against the larger hand. Fingers wrapping around one of Peter's fingers. "Rocket."

"I am Mantis."

Peter nodded. He looked down at Loki and Nat. "This is Loki and that's Natasha."

"As much as I enjoy the pleasantries, we need to move. I'm not entirely sure this cavern is stable with everything going on above us." Loki stood up, then reached down to scoop Natasha up.

Peter triggered the Iron Spider, leaving the mask off. He was starting to get cold. "Karen, turn my heater on."

"Who the hell is Karen?" Rocket asked in exasperation?

"My AI." Peter relaxed into the heat his suit was producing.

Rocket sighed. "I knew there was a robot involved. If everyone is nice and comfy, can we get going? Or does someone else need to have their robot turn on a heater?" Not getting a response, he turned to head into a passageway. "This way."

Peter looked over at Loki. "I can take her."

Loki shook his head. "I'll carry her for now, keep an eye on our small friend."

Peter nodded leaving Loki and Mantis to follow as they wove their way through icy tunnels.

xxxxxxxxxx

Thor landed on the surface of a moon orbiting Contraxia. His target had tumbled to the surface before him. Mjolnir gripped tightly in his hand he walked purposefully towards the man laying face first on the ground. He barely acknowledged Carol landing next to him, fist glowing brightly. The figure rolled onto his back and scampered away, his own fists glowing. The youthful face staring back at him took Thor by surprise. He looked about the same age as Peter.

"Stand down." Carol growled. She had been chasing the kid halfway across the galaxy. "You're outgunned."

The boy looked between the two standing in front of him. When he had gotten hit by the man's lightening, it had disoriented him enough for the girl he had been running from to drive him into the surface of the moon. "You don't understand. You need to let me find him."

"I understand more than you think I do." Carol's voice softened. "You're the only survivor from Xandar."

Thor looked over at Carol when she mentioned Xandar. He looked back at the boy. "Why did you attack the Ravagers?"

The boy looked over at the impossibly large man. "I can't explain it. I just sensed the Power Stone."

Thor frowned. "So you attacked without knowing what you were attacking?" He reached down and pulled the boy up.

"What's your name?" Carol asked.

"Sam...Sam Alexander."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to use the Sam Alexander version of Nova instead of the Richard Rider. Since the Nova Corp and Xandar were both slightly different in the MCU I'm adapting and departing a little from Nova's backstory. Sam seemed to work better than Richard did.


	7. Evade

Peter slid into one of the pilots seats out of habit, looking down at the unfamiliar controls. When they had come out of the tunnels, the fighting that had started as the result of the initial attack had spilled over to the ship berths. Between Rocket and Peter they had managed to make it to the Benetar fairly unscathed. Peter followed Rocket into the cockpit, leaving Loki and Mantis to make sure Natasha was strapped on for what was probably going to be a rocky ride. Peter watched Rocket flip switches and felt the engines ignite. The dexterity in the tiny paws amazed Peter. Rocket didn't appear to need any help.

The ship lurched backwards out of its berth and Rocket quickly flipped it around to head into the lower atmosphere. Peter looked over at Rocket when he felt what seemed to be something hitting the hull.

"Crap." Rocket pulled up a new holographic display showing a group of ships following them off Contraxia. "What the hell is Aleta doing." He looked over at Peter. "Any chance you know how to fly? I can't fire back and evade at the same time...at least not effectively."

Peter nodded and grabbed the controls. He banked trying to avoid a blast but hadn't moved fully out of the way. "Sorry!" He continued to evade, successfully avoiding the next three blasts which seemed to give Rocket at least a little bit of comfort that he wasn't going to crash the ship and kill them all.

Rocket targeted the ships and proceeded to fire at each of them. He glanced up at the other display showing another group of ships in front of them. "Crap. We're dead." They weren’t in a position that allowed him to fire. His only option would be to try to evade but even that had a slim chance of success. Before he could grab the controls back, Peter dove the ship, plunging them downward and creating an opening that allowed him to target the ships in front of them. Hitting most of them, the ship shuddered as some of the blasts found their way to the hull. Power and fire controls blinked momentarily then went dead, leaving no thrust and no weapons.

Peter slid out of his seat and started flipping open panels behind him. "What are you doing?" Rocket yelled at Peter as he watched him look at the wires behind each panel.

"Fixing this." Peter studied the wiring for a moment and then pulled one and started rewiring the power source. "Did we lose the weapons?"

Rocket watched Peter until he was sure he wasn't going to blow up the ship. "The last shot took out the cockpit interface. I'm going to have to fire them directly and I need you to fly the ship." He has seen enough of Peter's flying skills and reflexes to know he could at least fly good enough not to get them killed which meant he didn't have to stay in the cockpit.

"We won't be able to get away if we don't fix this." Peter wished Natasha was awake. He hadn't noticed Loki had moved over to the pilots seat until the ship banked to the port side to evade a blast from one of the Ravagers ships.

"Why don't I fly, you fix the ship, and Rocket take care of whatever is shooting at us." Loki easily avoided the shots being fired as he smoothly flew through a debris field. The engines only had enough power to move, until Peter fixed them all they could do was evade.

Rocket hesitated for a moment, then scurried over to the fire controls, leaving complete strangers fixing and flying his ship.

Peter glanced over at Loki, realizing he was an excellent pilot. They weren't going fast but Loki was able to roll and dive enough to avoid all of the blasts from the other ships.

"Thor will always maintain that he's the better pilot...he's not."

Peter thought there was a bit of snark to the comment and chuckled. He finished twisting two wires together and the console lit up again. "You've got engines but what I did won't last long. I need to take one of the arc reactors out of Nat's gauntlets and replace the power source that fried. I can't do that while we're being shot at."

Loki nodded and ignited the engines proceeded to start doing more than just evading. Peter left the cockpit to find Rocket, passing by Mantis sitting next to Natasha looking at some kind of monitor. He found Rocket towards the rear of the ship firing from a monitor with a stick control. Peter thought it looked like a video game, except the continued hits to the hull of the ship reminded him this was very much real. "We've got engines but only temporarily. I need to replace the power source but I can't do that while we're being shot at. We need somewhere close by."

Rocket nodded as he fired at another ship. "There's an asteroid field close by. We can hide while we make repairs."

"Cool! Just like Empire Strikes Back!"

"What Empire...the Kree or the Shi'ar?" Rocket glanced up at Peter before firing again.

"What? No, it's a movie...never mind...where's the asteroid field?"

Rocket fired a final time before flipping the controls back into a panel. "I'll get us there. You and the other one would probably get us killed."

Peter fought the urge to roll his eyes and followed Rocket back to the cockpit. Standing behind the two pilot seats he watched Rocket take the controls. Most of the ships that had been pursuing them has either been disabled or had veered off leaving most of the space around them clear. He could see the rocky asteroid field in front of them. Assuming Rocket and Loki had it under control he retreated to the back of the ship where he had found Nat and Mantis. He sat down next to Mantis. "How is she?"

"She is sleeping. She does not appear to be in distress."

Peter nodded and glanced at the monitor. He heart rate seemed ok. He reached over and unfastened one of her gauntlets. He was going to need the arc reactor out of it to fix the ship. They had spares on board their ship so he could replace it later. He felt the ship slow down. "Keep an eye on her and let me know when she wakes up."

Mantis nodded. "I will keep both eyes on her."

Peter chuckled as he headed back to the cockpit, gauntlet in hand. Through the cockpit window he could see the asteroid field in front of him. "This is so cool."

Rocket rolled his eyes. "Terrans. You're all amazed by the stupidest stuff."

Peter detected a chuckle from Loki. "Just because this is my first time in space does not mean I'm stupid." He crossed his arms and looked at the two.

"I didn't call you stupid. I called the stuff you're amazed at stupid. There's a difference." Rocket spun around in his chair to face Peter. "What are you doing with that?" He looked at the gauntlet in Peter's hand. The glowey thing wasn't glowing like it was before.

"Replacing your power source." Peter placed the gauntlet down and turned to look at the wires he had rigged to get them his far. Untwisting them he left the wires dangling and looked down to flip the cover off of the arc reactor. He realized Rocket was standing on the arm of the chair watching him. "Karen, start one of the playlists." AC/DC emanated from his watch.

Rocket listened for a moment. "What is that?"

"An arc reactor." Peter slid the reactor out of its housing and laid it gently next to the gauntlet.

"No...the sound." Rocket was tapping his foot to the beat as he watched Peter.

"Music. You don't have music?" Peter had started the tedious process of wiring the arc reactor into the ship's drive. He had already inspected the rest of the mechanism and knew there was a similar gateway already installed that would modulate the power. He would just need to tweak it slightly to make it work with the arc reactor."

"We have Quill's tunes but this is so much better." Rocket kept tapping his feet as he reached forward and held one of the wires out of Peter's way. "That's not going to blow my ship up is it?"

Peter shook his head. "I can modulate the power." He glanced over at the tapping foot. "I can probably figure out how to transfer the music over if you want."

Rocket grinned. "I can't wait to tell Quill I have my own tunes!"


	8. Morag

"How long do you think it'll take them to get there?" Quill looked up from the controls and over at his temporary shipmates.

"Peter's having to replace the power source. Maybe an hour after we get there." Steve glanced over at Quill. The escape from Contraxia hadn't been too bad. They seemed to have had it easier than Peter did. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"

Quill scoffed. "Of course I know where I'm going." He checked the coordinates again just to make sure. "Morag is a dead world though. There's isn't anything else there." He wasn't sure why the blond lady had suggested that as a rendezvous point.

"Just fly the ship." Tony was frustrated at best. He followed Steve to the main compartment. Thor seemed to be talking to the tree. The 'I am Groot' that the creature kept repeating was apparently a language. The larger man was standing completely still against the bulkhead. Tony turned and looked at Steve. "I'm sure they'll be okay. They're well hidden while Peter fixes the ship and they've got a monitor on Nat."

Steve nodded, keeping everything tamped down and in check. He was tired, tired of fighting, tired of losing. There was always another fight on the horizon. They didn't even know what they were up against but they were already taking hits.

xxxxxxxxxx

Carol followed Sam to the surface. She didn't think he would run but she still didn't trust him. He had been the one to suggest Morag. She had heard the name but had never been there. There was no need. There were no people that needed to be saved. Wiped out by the changing tides when one of their moons had been destroyed. They had passed through the rocky remains on their descent to the planet. Now, a temple that had once served to hide the Power Stone was exposed but only for another couple years. Eventually the tides would again surge to cover all evidence.

"Irani told me the story of how Quill found the Orb. Maybe there are clues to tracking it." Sam frowned as he looked around the desolate world. It reminded him too much of the way Xandar had looked. There was something disturbing when you couldn't hear any sign of life. You could tell there had been creatures on it at some point recently but long term exposure to the acidic atmosphere had terminated all life at this point. He felt it was nature's way of preparing the world to be swallowed again by water. He looked over at Carol. He knew she was studying him. She had said she wanted to help. Help him learn how to use his abilities. To use them to help people. All he wanted to do right now was to use them to hurt the person that had taken away his adoptive home.

"The rest of them should be here soon. Until then, let's see what you can do."

xxxxxxxxxx

Peter sat in the pilots seat next to Rocket. They had changed the speakers to only play in the cockpit since Natasha had woken up with a hell of a headache. She was currently in the back with Loki and Mantis enjoying the silence. Peter on the other hand was truly enjoying Rocket's company. He was snarky and sarcastic and incredibly smart. Rocket was currently learning the words to 'Whatever It Takes' by Imagine Dragons and singing at the top of his lungs. He watched Rocket easily fly through an asteroid belt as they made their way to the surface of the the planet known as Morag. Rocket didn't know much about it other than it was considered a dead planet and that it's where Quill had originally found the Power Stone.

Ship easing to the surface, Peter slid out of the pilots' seat. They had made much better time than he thought they would. Rocket had been able to help him install the Arc Reactor. Tiny fingers with claws made it incredibly easy to work on the small device. Plus, they had utilized a jump gate which had amazed Peter to no end. He had managed to talk Rocket into letting him look at the device and the navigational system that controlled it. He was a little concerned Karen was currently overloaded with data. He needed to off load it to FRIDAY soon. The ship settled and Peter tapped the panel to release the hatch and door, suit forming around him. He glanced over at Natasha to make sure she didn't need help. "Nat, you sure you don't want me to carry you?"

"Peter, it's just a concussion. I've had much, much worse." The wind whipping her braid over her shoulder, Natasha smirked as Rocket climbed up Peter and stood on his shoulder.

"You can carry me. The ground is squishy and makes my paws feel funny." Rocket put a paw on Peter's head and looked at the group of people waiting for them. "What's this party supposed to be?"

"I think trying to find out something about the Power Stone." Peter stopped at the foot of the ramp and waited for Loki and Mantis before crossing the distance to the flat surface in front of what he assumed was the temple. Rocket hopped off his shoulder and walked over to Groot. Peter stopped in front of his dad. Titanium arms pulled him into a hug.

"Kid, we’re supposed to be on this trip together." Tony had done a good job keeping his worry at bay. Talking to Peter over Quill's com system had helped tremendously but the fact that Peter had been forced to escape in a strange ship with no one to watch his back had left Tony with a feeling of dread that had only been out to rest by seeing Peter in person.

"I'm fine dad. And, you should see the nav system in their ship. There are jump gates." Peter couldn't wait to go over the data with him.

Tony chuckled. Of course Peter had focused solely on new technology. "You made good time. I'm assuming because of the jump gates?"

"That and Rocket helped me install the reactor." Peter glanced over at Rocket.

"Yeah, and he gave me my own tunes so you can't tell me all of its 'yours' anymore." Rocket looked up at Quill. "He is a much better Peter than you are." He looked over at Tony. "Want to trade? You can keep Drax and Mantis too."

Tony frowned behind the mask. "You're not keeping him."

Rocket waved him off with his paw. "Yeah, he said you'd say that." He looked over. "Who are the two glowing people...they weren't there before."

Quill nodded. "This is Sam and Carol. They were there, they caused the mess on Contraxia."

"You destroyed my fifth favorite bar." Rocket growled.

Sam started to defend himself but Carol put her hand on his shoulder. "It was a misunderstanding about the Power Stone." She looked back at the group. "Which is why we're here so why don't we get out of the rain and see if we can find some answers."

xxxxxxxxxx

Loki studied the panels in the room. There weren't words but rather illustrations of events with each participant being given a title. The panel he was currently looking at contained four beings with six colored stones radiating out from a center. It took him a moment to translate the names. "Death, Eternity, Oblivion, Infinity". He looked over at Thor who had moved to stand next to him. "I think we can assume the stones are the Infinity Stones."

"I am Groot."

Thor turned to look at Groot. "Well, yes, I think that one could also be translated as Entropy."

Loki rolled his eyes, "Oblivion, Entropy, Chaos, whatever. I think this panel in particular might speak of the stones' original creation." He walked towards the next panel. "There seems to be at least one panel for every Stone. This one seems to illustrate the Space Stone." He gestured to another panel, "that one, the Time Stone." He moved behind the pedestal to the smaller panels. "These seem to tell the history of the stones but the record isn't whole."

"They didn't have time to finish before the world was destroyed." Drax looked at the glyphs decorating the room and couldn't understand how they could tell the story of something as complex as the Stones.

"No, the giant hole in the wall obliterated most of the text." Loki stared at Drax in annoyance.

Quill looked over at the hole in the wall. "Yeah...my bad. That happened when Korath tried to kill me."

"Does any of this tell us how to find them? Because if it doesn't I'm not sure why we're wasting time looking at ugly art." Rocket looked at the various panels depicting creatures unlike any he had seen before.

"I'm kinda with the raccoon. As interesting as this all is, it's not getting us any closer to finding the Power Stone." Tony had already scanned all of the larger panels and was working his way around the pedestal base. He glanced over at Quill. "This is where the Orb was, right?"

Quill nodded. "There was this light cage thing holding it in place."

"Light cage thing...is that the technical term?" Tony knelt down in front of the pedestal. "FRIDAY, can you penetrate the base?"

"Affirmative. The base appears to be hollow. The carvings look like there should be a concealed opening."

Peter knelt next to his dad. "Are we sure there isn't some kind of giant boulder that's going to roll down and try and crush us?" He retracted his gloves and felt around the edges of the panels on the pedestal.

"No, that's only if you're trying to steal a golden idol." Tony had his gloves retracted as well, feeling the edges. "This thing definitely should open." He looked over at Peter. "I've got an idea." He looked over at Quill. "Try to open this." He rolled back on his heels to make space for Quill.

Sliding his fingers across the panel, the glyphs glowed slightly. The panel shifted back, creating enough room for Quill to slide his fingers into the openings to push it aside. Before he could catch it, an orb rolled out of the pedestal, coming to a stop at Sam's feet.

Peter looked over at his dad. "I wasn't completely wrong. It's just much smaller."

Sam reached down and picked the orb up. The glyphs decorating the orb glowed and a holographic image projected upward. Taken off guard he dropped it.

Diving underneath, Quill caught the orb, igniting both the symbols as well as the hologram again. "Whoa...". He studied the star chart played out on the hologram.


	9. Plans

Everyone in the room froze as the hologram displayed a larger and larger star map. Quill frowned as he looked at it. "I don't get it. Why hide a star map. These are all known places."

Peter reached down and took the orb from Quill to get a better look. The minute Quill's hands left the orb, the hologram shut down. Frowning he studied the device, looking for an on button. Tony stood next to him and peered over his shoulder at the device. "I have an idea." He took it from Peter's hands and handed it to Carol. The symbols began glowing again and the hologram once again started to display a star map. This time it was slightly different than when Quill had touched it.

Carol studied the map. "That's the region where Sakaar is located."

Loki walked around the base of the pedestal and studied the glyphs. "Perhaps the orb recognizes the source of your power and is showing you its location." Carol had mentioned when they first met that an explosion involving the tesseract had been responsible for giving her the powers she had.

Carol handed the orb to Sam who swallowed as he took the device. The hologram immediately changed to show a different region. Thor walked over to look at the map. "That is the Badoon empire." He looked around the room. "When I destroyed the bifrost they realized Asgard wouldn't be able to stop them. They began invading the surrounding planets. The stories of their savagery spread to our ears even without means to effectively travel. Once we repaired the bifrost we sent a legion of warriors only to find their worlds abandoned." Thor looked around the room, "Other, more pressing matters took priority and we never found out what happened to them."

Sam stared at the map. He was familiar with the area, although none of the Nova Corp has ventured to that sector of space in eons. "Do we think this is showing us the location of the Power Stone?"

Tony recognized the look on Sam's face. When they had landed on Morag, Sam had been testing his powers under Carol's watchful eye. He was powerful, probably more powerful than even he knew. He reminded him a lot of Wanda before she had learned control. "Cool it. You're not going after it yourself. If you try to, we'll take you out of the fight all together." Tony looked at the rest of the team. "Thoughts?"

Steve crossed his arms and looked at the group. It was a motley group assembled in front of him. "If this turns out to be some kind of location device for the stones not only are we having a run of good luck for possibly the first time ever, we also have to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands." He looked down where Loki was kneeling next to the pedestal. "Any chance there's an instruction manual that goes with it?"

"Perhaps. But it will take time to translate."

Steve nodded. "Then we send a recon team. If our target is there we're going to need everybody which means we need to make our check-in with Reed."

"The Benetar has an auxiliary pod ship. Smaller and less detectable." Quill stood up from the floor. "It would definitely be nice to know what we're going up against."

Carol nodded. "Thor and I can take Sam." She looked at the map still generating from the orb in Sam's hands. "It's not pinpointing a planet so that's still a pretty big area. Sam may be able to detect it like he did the residual energy that Quill carries."

Tony nodded in agreement. "Take the radiation detection array as well. We haven't had a chance to really test it but it may be helpful." When they had altered Peter's tracking device to search for the radiation emitted from the Stones, they had only been able to test it in a controlled environment. Hopefully it would work in the field as well. "The rest of us will meet up with Reed and meet you just outside the region in two days."

xxxxxxxxxx

MJ stared at the screen in shock. When Pepper had brought up the idea she had known deep down that she was right. But seeing it in person brought reality crashing down on her. The screen very distinctly showed a tiny heart fluttering at exactly the speed it was supposed to. Because of Peter's genetic mutations there had been plans in place for a while. Research had been done, cutting edge technology had been invented, plans had been made, all in the eventuality of her one day, maybe, getting pregnant. She had somehow always imagined that one day to be any other time but certainly not the time when Peter wasn't just on a long mission, he was on a long mission and not even in the same Solar System.

MJ found her voice again, "How far along am I?"

Dr. Cho smiled, "18 weeks. I'm a little surprised you didn't notice earlier."

Pepper reached over and squeezed MJ's hand. "She's kept herself occupied." She leaned towards MJ. "Are you ok?"

MJ nodded. She really didn't have an option other than to be ok. Her mind started cycling back through every biology class she had ever taken, all of the conversations she and Peter had about the possibility of getting pregnant and the dangers surrounding it. "Tests...". Her mind was too wrapped up in everything swirling around in it to get more than that out.

Dr. Cho have her a reassuring pat. "Ultrasound and blood work were step one. I should have your blood work back shortly and we'll plan our next steps."

MJ looked back at Pepper who must have seen the sudden panic in her eyes because she squeezed her hand again and said "Come on, lets head upstairs and get something to eat." MJ nodded and waited for Dr. Cho to move the ultrasound equipment before swinging her legs off the table.

Pepper smirked down at the dog that had raised his head when MJ moved. "Morgan will be happy you brought Cosmo with you." She and Dr. Cho started to walk out of the room to allow MJ to change back into her clothes. "I'll tell Rhodey he's on his own for lunch."

MJ shook her head. "Don't, I'm ok letting everyone know. Rhodey will love the fact that he'll know before both Peter and Tony."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Colonel Rhodes, one of the items scanned on Knowhere has been flagged in my system."

Rhodey frowned. He hadn't even been at the compound for thirty minutes yet and was currently sitting in the living room of Tony's living quarters waiting on Pepper and MJ while Morgan watched cartoons. "What do you mean flagged?" Rhodey frowned and looked at the tablet in his hand. FRIDAY had brought the image up on the screen. "FRIDAY, give me everything you have on this. I need to take a trip to a library after lunch."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m curious to hear feedback. I’m doing a lot of world building. I’ve combined comic lore with MCU with various cartoon series. Always interested to hear if it makes sense to readers!


	10. Moord

"Tony, it's more than I ever imagined. The entire galaxy seems to center around a black hole, the size of which has never even been imagined. I could spend several lifetimes going through the data we've collected on this short trip alone. Not unexpected but we did not find any life forms, but we've only scratched the surface of exploration. I did get the impression that some kind of battle took place at some point. I couldn't tell how long ago. I'm not sure time works the same way there. The singularity is so large is causes time dilation across the entire galaxy."

Tony tapped the side of the communication device in impatience. "Reed, the science project is going to have to wait. We think we've found the Power Stone and the person responsible for the destruction on Xandar."

Reed stiffened. "Is there a plan?"

"Confront. I'm sending you coordinates." Tony hoped that there would be a way they wouldn't have to fight but he knew that was what was going to end up happening. With the inclusion of Quill's group their numbers and strength weren't anything to sneeze at. But then again, their target had taken out an entire advanced civilization with supposedly a pretty good military defense, he wasn't looking forward to it.

Peter listened to part of the conversation between his dad and Reed before heading down to the crew common area. "FRIDAY, any messages from home?"

"Yes Peter. One from MJ for you, One for Boss from Colonel Rhodes."

Peter smiled. He had enjoyed getting videos from MJ. It made him feel like he wasn't quite so far away. "FRIDAY, has MJ been given the video I left?"

"Yes Peter."

Peter froze. Every time they retrieved messages from home, he hoped he'd hear the response FRIDAY had just given him. Hearing it now sent reality crashing down on him. MJ knew. MJ knew she was pregnant. MJ knew Peter knew she was pregnant when he left. And he had left anyway. Panic and guilt swarmed over him. "FRIDAY, send MJ's message to my quarters." He walked into the small living space that contained nothing more than a bed, a small table, and a viewing screen. The door slid closed behind him and he sat down on the bed as the video appeared on the screen.

_”I understand why you didn't tell me before you left. And I want you to know it's ok. I also never ever want another video like that again. Nat made a comment once about the video you left Tony when you let yourself get grabbed. Now I understand." MJ paused for a moment and reached down to pick up a tablet showing a still shot from the Ultrasound. "Hopefully you can see this on your side." She held up the tablet facing the camera. "Meet your son. Everything looks good so far. Dr. Cho is running all the tests she needs to at this point. Dr. Banner is assisting so I think I'm in pretty good hands. Morgan is ecstatic although I'm not sure she's grasping the concept of 'Aunt'. Bucky was protective before and now he's completely over the top. Rhodey can't wait to gloat to you and Tony that he knew first. Peter, I need you to get home before he comes because we never decided if a boy would be Benjamin Anthony or Benjamin Edward." MJ sucked in a breath before continuing. "Stay safe in space so you can come home. I love you."_

xxxxxxxxxx

The ships converged at the coordinates Thor had transmitted. The smaller pod docking with the Benetar, the three larger ships opened a three-way transmission. Thor rested his arms on the table and leaned forward. "He is on the fourth planet in this system, called Moord. The entire planet is swamp like. It was the original home world of the Badoon. There's nothing left but him. We don't think he detected us but we can't be sure."

Carol leaned over. "We found out that he's destroyed at least three other civilizations. We're not sure what he's doing here but I think if we should take our shot while we know where he is."

Steve nodded. "Did you see any other weapons or support?"

Carol shook her head and looked over at Sam who leaned in on the other side of Thor. "He doesn't need it. When he hit Xandar he did so from the surface." Sam paused before continuing. "We think he's put the Power Stone in some kind of staff. He'll be able to direct shots with it. From what I've been told of the Power Stone, he'll be able to supplement his strength even with it in the staff. When he was on Xandar he kind of glowed. Not like Carol or I do, but all over. It was like his entire body was a weapon."

"Ok, then we go in hot to the surface and assume we're not talking him down." Steve looked up at Tony. "Removing the Power Stone from the equation is objective one. I think I have an idea."

xxxxxxxxxx

He watched them land on the surface. He had sensed their ships when they entered the upper atmosphere. He had known someone would eventually come. He didn't know who they were but it didn't matter. None could stop him. The very power of the universe ran through him. The Badoon hadn't been a problem. The Nova Corp hadn't been a problem. They wouldn't be a problem now.

xxxxxxxxxx

MJ pulled her knees to her chest and looked out over the city. This had always been Peter's thing. The place he could think. She had definitely been on a multitude of roofs with him over the years but she had never enjoyed the higher ones. But, right now, being this high and hearing the faint sound of traffic below her, she felt closer to him. Right now, she even enjoyed the dizzying height the roof of the tower provided. She could see a figure swinging towards the tower and she had a moment of wistful belief that it was Peter. But the black suit with a crimson spider on the front came into view and she was pulled back into reality. She waited for the figure to land on the roof. "Hey Miles. How has your night been?"

Miles walked over, pulled his mask off and sat next to MJ. "Not too bad. Your typical Friday night muggings and drug deals. Although, I think something is brewing with the mob. I keep hearing things about a new player in town but I haven't found out much. I'll keep poking around and see if I can turn something up."

MJ looked at Miles. "Don't poke too hard. You're kind of limited on back up options right now. Peter always hated when Bucky, Sam, or Rhodey tried to back him up. He said they always made way too big of a deal out of things."

Miles shrugged. "I know. Bobby said to call him if I needed help but a guy made out of ice isn't exactly low profile."

MJ chuckled. "How are classes going?"

"Good. My course load isn't too crazy right now. It's giving me plenty of time to patrol."

MJ nudged him with her shoulder. "And, hows Kate."

Miles ducked his head and blushed. "Kate is good."

MJ laughed. "Come on Miles. That's a good thing."

Miles sighed. "I know, it's just a lot to juggle. I don't know how Peter handles everything."

MJ laughed. "Don't let him fool you. Peter dropped balls more times than I can count. He just had people around him that could catch them before they hit the ground. So don't ever think you have to do everything on your own." She shivered a little and stood up to head back inside.

"Whoa...".

MJ frowned and then looked down. Over the last week the few extra pounds she had been blaming on stress eating had turned into a recognizable baby bump. She smiled when she realized what Miles was staring at. "Yeah, I haven't seen you in a couple weeks. We weren't really trying but we weren't not trying either."

Miles scrambled to his feet and hugged MJ. "That's great!" He pulled back and looked at her. "Does Peter know?"

MJ nodded. "He knew before I did...super hearing."

Miles frowned to himself. He and Peter had always talked over the years about how being Spider-Man meant making sacrifices. He knew where Peter was and what he was doing. Miles was part of his cover. On occasion Peter would still patrol Queens in his navy and red suit. Miles thought it was generally when Peter wanted to remember a simpler time. So, if people on occasion saw a navy and red Spider-Man instead of the black and crimson one that was definitely not anywhere close to having an "I am Iron Man" moment as Peter called it, then they believed Peter was in a lab somewhere and definitely not in space making sure that nothing bad was coming their way. The fact that Peter had gone, knowing that MJ was pregnant made Miles sad. He wished his mentor didn't feel like he had to take everything on himself. Forcing a smile he hugged MJ again. "If you need anything, let me know."

MJ nodded. "I will. Enjoy the rest of your patrol!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok...so the thought Miles has at the end about Peter’s “I am Iron Man” moment...I left it out of the end of the Africa story. It was a “One Year Later” epilogue (because that’s where the original story ended). I left it out because I’m somewhat working on a story that fills in that year and I was going to put it at the end of that story. Just a little FYI...


	11. The Enemy

Carol and Thor flanked Sam as they exited the ship. It was a show of force. And it was to make sure Sam didn't turn rogue and go after their target too soon. The three other ships landed behind them. Soon, their ranks were were full. From a deadly raccoon that was armed to the teeth to humans that had nothing but a strong desire to fight and to defend. It was impressive. But, the glowing being in front of them was also impressive.

A face appeared on the being that looked like he was made entirely of light. The details were marred by the brightness but you could tell that he had been humanoid at one time. "Why have you come?" He already knew the answer, he just wanted to hear it.

"You have attacked and destroyed entire civilizations without cause. That stops today." Thor's voice boomed across the landscape. It echoed off of hollow trees only to be absorbed by the swampy marshland.

"Not entirely without cause. They were failures. Failures at providing a fair chance at life for everyone. Failures for neglecting to protect their own. I viewed these worlds for a long time, ever since I gained the power to do so." He looked at the group assembled in front of him. An expression of judgement appeared on his face. "They were found to be lacking." He shifted his hand on the staff. The purple glow of the stone emanated from its place at the top casting a glow on the murky landscape. "The Badoon had one thing right. The civilizations that are a danger to this universe should be eradicated. Too bad they were mindless creatures with no purpose, nothing to give meaning to their actions."

"The Badoon were savage beasts that thrived on enslaving populations and destruction. You are no different." Thor looked around. The Badoon had been a reptilian race, one of the older races. At one point they numbered in excess of 40 million. Now he wasn't sure any remained. He focused back on their target who's face had twisted into a vile expression.

"I am nothing like the Badoon!" The man spit the response out. Regaining control, he focused on Thor. "Once I realized the extent of what they had made me, the things I could do, I knew the first thing I needed to accomplish was to eradicate them." The look of judgement replaced the vile twisted look that had appeared briefly before.

Carol tilted her head. "The Badoon made you?"

"I thought I could save at least part of my world. So I made a deal. And in exchange they altered me. Then they destroyed my entire planet." He paused, but only for a moment, "I destroyed them. As time passed I realized it wasn't just regular energy I could absorb. It was everything." He looked around at the dead world. "This world is teeming with energy, you just can't see it. I can. I can see it and I can take it. As I grew stronger I watched what was happening around me. I thought there was one that could bring balance so I watched him, learned from him. But then he too became burdened with his own quest and left this time in search of revenge for something that had not yet happened. But in his place was the knowledge of the Stones. As I searched for what he had left behind I only grew stronger until I had absorbed the very power of the cosmos. A power that had not been seen since the time when giants walked the universe. In this power I saw that I could use the stones to recreate the universe as it should be. Where there are no Badoons that enslave and alter people for their own use."

"Boo hoo...so you're genetically modified. Most of the people here are genetically modified and you don't see any of us taking out entire civilizations." Rocket looked at the glowing man. "I'm a freaking talking raccoon." He gestured to Johnny, "He's on fire. That guy over there gets all stretchy and it is really uncomfortable to watch." He looked to his other side, "That guy is made of rocks, those two have glowing fists, and there's some guy with a shield, and a guy that has really good taste in music that's part spider and both of them can lift a ridiculous about of weight. So stop trying to excuse the fact that you're a giant douchebag that needs to sit in time out."

The enemy's glow flared. The rodent had pushed his buttons and he knew it. He looked at the group assembled and knew this was going to be slightly different than what he had experienced before but the outcome would remain the same. Then a shield flew from behind him and cut the staff in two.

The plan had been relatively simple. The first object was to remove the Power Stone from the equation. As Steve threw his shield, inevitably hitting its target, repulsors fired from above driving the target to the ground. Webs slung, they grabbed both pieces of the staff and pull them out of reach of the target. Everyone else attacked. It was a simple plan. It should have gone off without a hitch. It didn't. The shield hit its mark and the repulsors hit their mark and the webs hit their marks. But within seconds they knew exactly how strong their target was. As the rest of the teams fired, the blasts ricocheted off of a force field that had been thrown up.

Peter swung around having secured the pieces of the staff to a tree and fired taser webs at their target. All they seemed to do was energize the target more. He noticed the repulsor blasts were having similar results. "I don't think overpowering him with energy is going to work." Peter switched tactics and tried wrapping up their target with webs. For the most part they disintegrated on contact but he had flung enough of them that their target was momentarily distracted which was long enough for Steve to land a direct hit with his shield.

"Yeah, I don't think he has an upper limit." Tony landed next to Peter. "We need to distract him so the others can break through the shield he put up."

Peter saw their targets' attention turn to face an oncoming onslaught by Steve so he took the opening. Landing a kick mid back he pushed the target towards Steve who landed an impressive blow. Peter realized that the only reason his kick had any effect was because the man had already been moving in that direction. Steve's punch hadn't phased him at all.

"Not exactly what I had in mind, but I can work with it." Tony flew up and pushed into the man at full speed allowing Peter to engage the waldos for additional bracing and kick with both feet.

"Captain Danvers is starting to break through the shielding."

"FRIDAY, give me maximum thrust and let's try this again." Tony reared back and engaged at full thrust. He could feel Steve pummeling their target from behind and knew that Peter was repeatedly landing kicks that felt even stronger than he had felt before.

"Who are you to try to stop me? A man out of time, a boy who can't save people he loves, and a degenerate that should have died in that cave." The man propelled himself up taking Iron Man with him. "I can see into each of you. I see that filthy cave, the shrapnel around your heart, the good man that died to save you...". He froze for a moment. There was something, something familiar he could see in the chaotic mind he was tapping into. Something he could use.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **The Enemy will be getting a name shortly. Like most of the other stories it is someone from Marvel. I'm taking some liberties and wrapping pieces of a couple different storylines together. Hope it's not too confusing! As always reviews are appreciated!**


	12. The Power Stone

It was enough of a distraction for Carol to completely break through the shield holding them back. Fists glowing she knew Sam was flying by her side towards their target. Quill had formed a ball of energy that rose from his hands and slammed into their target knocking him to the ground.

Tony hit the ground hard. "FRIDAY, systems check." He groaned as diagnostics popped up on the HUD. He forced himself to his feet and looked over as Peter slammed into a tree. He increased power to the thrusters as he watched Johnny and Reed land in front of Peter. Flames bright, Johnny charged their target, leaving a protective barrier of fire between their target and Peter.

"Kid, talk to me." Tony glanced at the biometrics feeding back from Peter's suit.

"I'm ok." He shook his head to clear it. He was pretty sure he was bleeding from somewhere. He could feel the blood under his mask. "How are we stopping this thing. All I've got against him is brute strength which is not going to be enough." Peter pushed himself to his feet in time to see Johnny pushed backwards.

"Yeah, I don't know. I'm in the same boat. Repulsors do nothing and everything else is just getting absorbed." Tony landed next to Peter. "Cap, you got anything because we're getting our asses handed to us."

Steve threw the shield. His latest tactic had been try to herd him into a contained area. He dropped one branch with the shield and kicked down a smaller tree creating a barrier. "No, but I think Danvers may." He paused to watch Carol land in front of Johnny, Sam landing gently next to her, Thor landing on the other side. Eyes on their target, he tapped his com. "Nat, you three in one piece?"

"Yeah, but this sitting on the sidelines is for the birds." She glanced over a Wyatt and Loki. "I get it, the three of us are a little more suited to close quarters combat. Not what you all have going on now." Wyatt had pushed back the most when Steve had suggested that they stay on the ship. They in particular were significantly outgunned and if the rest of them couldn't stop him here, then the three of them were heading back to Earth at top speed to warn the others. Nat and Wyatt because at the end of the day their skill set was definitely hand to hand. Loki also leaned more towards close quarters although he probably could have held his own. But, if they had returned to Earth reporting the death of both Thor and Loki, the Asgardians would have lost more than they could have recovered from.

"Nat, if they don't get the upper hand soon, I want you to take off."

Natasha looked down. Leaving wasn't in her DNA, but she knew it was what she was going to have to do if they didn't turn this around. "Understood."

Steve looked back at their target. Quill had joined the threesome. They knew going into the fight that those four has the best chance. They had removed the Power Stone from the equation. Steve glanced over at the tree where Peter had webbed it to make sure it was still secure. They weren't entirely sure how they were going to handle the Stone. To hear Quill talk, holding it had almost killed him. They thought they could contain it but it was going to need a more permanent housing. He looked back and watched the four circling their target. He hoped this worked.

The enemy glanced at the group surrounding him. He hadn't realized when this started who was among their number. He had heard stories of Quill but had never seen him first hand. He had also heard stories of the female but they were almost ghost stories, whispered in the dark. The Asgardian was formidable. The blood that coursed through his veins was more than just your typical Asgardian. He wondered if he even knew. The fourth one was a complete mystery to him. "You wear the emblem of the fallen Nova Corp."

"I am the Nova Corp". Sam's fists grew brighter. The anger he felt was beyond anything he had felt before. It energized him. He wasn't even sure if he was cognizant that he had launched himself towards the enemy. Fists landing in the middle of his chest, he drove the enemy back.

"Crap." That had not been the plan. Quill ignited his boot jets and took off after the kid and their target. Forming another ball of energy he waited until Sam has a little separation before firing it into their target. Lightening ignited around him, adding another hit to their target.

Carol launched herself towards their target, adding her strength to Sam's. They were driving him back, just not where they needed to. She pulled back when she realized they were driving him directly towards the Power Stone. "Sam..."

Sam pushed harder and drove the enemy to the ground. He reared his fists back ready to pummel the enemy's chest when he looked up and saw the Power Stone. Unfortunately, so did the enemy.

Glowing brighter than he had before, the enemy raised himself and grabbed the half of the staff containing the Power Stone. Raising it, he lowered it onto Sam's head.

No one but Quill has seen the Power Stone in action. The original Groot had lost his life in an attempt to keep Quill from tearing himself apart. Assuming the stone would now have a similar affect on Sam he dove towards him, fully expecting to grab him and help off load some of the strength from the stone. Instead, he saw Sam looking up at their target with a look of triumph. Their target on the other hand, had a sudden look of fear.

"I think it recognizes me." Sam rose to his feet. Ever since he had been exposed to the Power Stone, he felt like he could hear it. He knew without a doubt in the moment that they were sentient. With a new found strength he launched forward towards the enemy who has managed to move backwards.

Taking the broken staff the enemy hit the ground with it. Everyone that had made it back to their feet found themselves horizontal again when the concussion blast hit them. The only one that could withstand the hit were Carol, Sam, Thor, and Quill.

The four launched a simultaneous attack on their target. He parried most of the hits with the Power Stone but not all of them. He hit the ground again, shattering the staff. The ensuing whirlwind pushed the four back. When it subsided, the eerie silence was deafening. Looking at the spot their target had been, all that remained was the Power Stone encased in the twisted melted remnants of the staff.

Sam looked down. For something so powerful it seemed awful small now. A grin appeared on his face as he recognized the shape the melted metal and wood had become. Four longer spikes with two smaller ones forming almost a star. He reached down to pick it up. As his hand closed around it he heard a yell from Quill.

"Stop." Quill reached forward, fully bracing for the concussive impact from the triggered stone.

"Like I said, I think it recognizes me." Sam studied the formation in hand. The soft purple glow from the stone at the center didn't seem quite as contentious now.

Thor crossed his arms. Even after all the time he spent searching for answers about the stones he still didn't understand them. "Then perhaps we have found its guardian."

Carol looked around the area. "Where did our friend go?" She looked over at Steve who had pulled himself to his feet and joined the group.

"I don't know but I don't think we killed him." Steve looked around the swampy battlefield. He didn't think they had lost anyone but everyone was going to hurt for a while.

Peter brought his mask down and tried to look over at his dad only to be greeted with the headache that accompanied a concussion. Karen had already reported everyone's vitals so there was no urgency needed in his movements.

"Ow." Tony sat up and looked down at Peter. "You look like crap kid." He knew everything was non-life threatening which gave him a little bit of peace, although seeing the blood streaked face of his oldest child made his heart race.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I broke my nose." Peter tried to push himself up only to give up for the time being. "No ones trying to kill us right now, right?"

Tony put a hand on Peter's shoulder and leaned back against a tree. "You're good." He looked around the battlefield. Out of everyone the raccoon seemed to fair the best. He had watched him fight, he and the others would be a good ally in the future. "Build A Bear is pretty good in a fight."

Peter chuckled, although it made him realize he probably had some broken ribs as well. "Don't call him that, he's sensitive. But, yeah, I like him."

"He needs to come for a visit. Morgan will love him." Tony grew somber. He wasn't sure if they had succeeded in their mission or not. Their target had simply vanished. None of them were foolish enough to believe he had been destroyed. They had retrieved the Power Stone which was good but right now all he wanted to do was go home.

Peter glanced up at his dad, concerned over how quiet he had grown. He saw the look on his face and recognized it as the same homesickness he felt. Before his brain could stop his mouth he blurted out. "MJ's pregnant."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Nova is proving to be a bit of a challenge. It'll be interesting to see where Marvel takes him if they end up including him because what they've built with Xandar and Nova Corp (although both are gone in the MCU main timeline as well) is a little contradictory from what's in the comics. So I'm taking some liberties. The enemy isn't gone and he'll get a name in the next chapter. And our team is also returning home. Stay tuned!


	13. Reveals

Tony stared down at Peter and his brain short circuited. "What did you just say?" Maybe Peter was hurt worse than Karen was reporting because he could have sworn Peter just said MJ was pregnant.

Peter sighed and forced himself up into a sitting position. "Pregnant. As in you're about to have a grandson." He grinned and looked over at his dad who still had a look of disbelief on his face.

"How...". Tony frowned that wasn't quite the question he wanted to ask but it's all he could manage for the moment.

"I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain the mechanics of it." Peter pushed himself to his feet and reached down to pull his dad up.

"Did you just say MJ was pregnant?" Johnny wrapped Peter in a bear hug. "Congratulations!"

"Did someone just say MJ was pregnant?" Natasha's voice rang through the com channel.

Peter smiled when he heard the glee in Natasha's voice. "Yes, Nat, you can babysit."

Rocket walked over to the group, clipping his gun on his back. "I have no idea who MJ is but can we figure out what we're going to do about the guy that disappeared?"

Quill retracted his mask. "I don't think we killed him. I think he just vanished."

"Like the magic trick you keep trying to do? How does someone just vanish?" Rocket crossed his arms and looked at the Quill expectantly.

"Not vanished...teleported." Thor looked down at the area where the enemy had been. "These markings are similar to the remnants of the bifrost."

"To where?" Steve looked around at the group, glancing over to Peter and Tony. Both looked worse for wear and he imagined he didn't look great either. He had definitely broken some ribs.

Carol shook her head and looked over at Sam. "I don't know but he is without the Power Stone."

Sam looked around at the group. "So what, not we just go back to what we were doing before? I don't have anything to go back to."

Carol cut Steve off with a glance. She knew what he was going to say and thought it might land easier if it came from her. She put her hand on Sam's shoulder. "No. You and I are training and we're going to continue to look for signs of him. We all will. And when we find him, we'll flight him again. This is bigger than just your revenge. Not only did he destroy Xandar but he also took out the Badoon, the Carelius, and who knows who else. He will be stopped." She looked back at Steve. "Are you heading back to Earth?"

Steve nodded. "We're not going to accomplish much just staying out here and hoping we stumble across him." He looked at the various groups standing around. "When we find them we'll go in together. After what we saw today I think it's going to take all of us."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Hey, dad...". Peter flinched as his dad wiped blood off his face with his one free hand. Tony's other arm was in a sling that despite what FRIDAY said he insisted was just a little sore. "When he threw up the force field and said all that stuff about how you should have died in the cave...I think I saw it...the cave. It was just a fleeting image in my mind, but I think I saw it."

Tony stiffened. "He obviously has the ability to pull images out of our memories." That was one memory he personally wanted to forget and it was one he never wanted Peter to see. He looked over at Steve. "How about you Steve, see anything?"

Steve nodded. "It was fleeting. But I saw the cave. And I saw a man bleeding on a sidewalk."

Peter looked up at his dad, brown doe eyes marred by bruises and blood. "That was Ben." It came out quieter than he had intended. After all this time it still hurt and it being forced to the front of his mind opened up the raw feelings of failure.

Tony gripped Peter's shoulder. He and Peter had talked about over the years but seeing amount of blood that had spilled out around Peter as his uncle died made Tony realize that he wasn't sure he had ever grasped how truly horrible it was for Peter. "Care to shed any light on the dance from the 40's Steve? I met Peggy a couple times but it was much later in life." He glanced up at the cockpit at Natasha. "You have excellent taste in women."

Steve chuckled. "I've been thinking a lot about that. The image he pulled from my head wasn't a memory...well not really. It was the vision Wanda gave me." He looked over at Tony. "When you mentioned that she said they were all possible futures I've struggled with what that means." He paused for a moment, lost in the memory of a dance never danced. "Peter, you and I have more in common than I think anyone realizes. I also opted to not go to a dance with the girl I liked in order to take on a super villain. The difference is that you lived. I ended up in the ice. But I wonder if I had lived if the outcome would have been the vision I had." He looked over at Tony and Peter. "If I hadn't been frozen would that mean that Hydra would have still taken the fight to allied soil? The future would have been very different." He shrugged before continuing "Or maybe it just meant that I was always going to outlive my contemporaries. All I know is that he got in our heads and messed with us. We need to not get stuck there." He looked over at Peter. "So pregnant?"

Peter grinned. "Want to see a picture of the ultrasound?"

Natasha yelled from the cockpit. "If you're pulling out ultrasound pictures I want to see!" She slid out of the seat and moved into the main compartment to stand next to Steve as Peter picked up a tablet. He had grabbed a screen shot from the video. Considering the distance the image had traveled it was remarkably clear, but then again Stark tech was better than everything else out there. He handed the table to Natasha and glanced over at his dad.

"I can't wait to babysit." Natasha studied the ultrasound. "How far along is she?"

Peter counted backwards. "Somewhere around 22 weeks."

"I have to wait four months!" Natasha handed the tablet to Tony and tapped Steve. "Come on, I can tell you've got some broken ribs by the way you're standing. Since you're not bleeding all over the place I'll wrap them downstairs."

Peter looked over at his dad who was still staring at the tablet. "You ok?"

"22 weeks Pete. We've been gone for for at least half of that." He looked up at Peter. "You knew before you left." It was a statement not a question. Peter started to get up but Tony gently pushed him back down into the seat. "I'm not done with your face." He adjusted the sling and added more of the medical web fluid to a piece of gauze. They had discovered over the years that if you diluted the fluid and changed the viscosity you could use it to stop bleeding almost immediately. It had been revolutionary for emergency responders. It still made him laugh a little that no one knew that it all originated because a certain Spider kept getting hurt. He dabbed the gauze on Peter's face. "That's why you've been moody."

Peter rolled his eyes. "I have not been moody." He paused and looked up at his dad. "But, yes."

Tony sighed and sat down in the seat across from Peter. He had stopped most of the bleeding but the kid was still going to be bruised when they got home. "You have no idea how much I wish you were a normal 22 year old."

"You told me a long time ago that this is my normal." Peter gingerly crossed his arms and looked over at his dad. "Please don't be mad. MJ isn't."

Tony scrubbed his good hand across his face. "I'm not mad. I just wish you hadn't missed the first ultrasound and the feeling when you find out together. You're never getting that back." He looked over at Peter and knew that this wasn't the first thing he missed and it wouldn't be the last either. And the thought of it just made him sad.

xxxxxxxxxx

MJ sat down on the on the bench and took in the sights and sounds around her. It wasn't often she afforded herself the opportunity to just people watch in the park. It had started as Pepper insisting she get some fresh air which turned into taking Cosmo for a walk which in turn became Bucky playing fetch with him. She could hear the faint melody from the carousel and desperately wished she had brought her sketch pad. In high school she had almost always had it with her. In college she had still always carried it with her but she pulled it out less and less. Once she had graduated, SI had taken up so much of her time she couldn't remember the last time she had drawn anything. She resolved to dig out her old sketch book and start making time for it again.

She was glad Bucky was the one entertaining Cosmo. She hated to admit it but she was tired. She dreaded what the next couple months would bring. A bouncing blob of fur caught her attention just in time for her to see Cosmo headed towards her with a ball in his mouth. "So sorry!" She looked up at a woman that had stopped abruptly to avoid getting run over. She tried to wrestle the ball away, "Cosmo, come on, give me the ball and I'll throw it back." She managed to get a hold of the ball and threw it back in Bucky's direction fighting the urge to stick her tongue out at him. He definitely had his 'assassin/super solider look'. She could tell he was sizing up the woman still standing next to her.

"My father has a dog named Cosmo." The woman's eyes followed the dog chasing the ball Bucky had thrown again, not missing the fact that he hadn't taken his eyes off MJ. "He seems to be having a good time with your husband."

"Oh, that's not my husband. He's my husband's overprotective friend that thinks I can't go to the park by myself when my husband is out of town." MJ smirked at Bucky but was glad he hadn't heard her. She looked over the woman's shoulder and saw a man headed towards them with a drink.

"Carina, here, I found the lemonade cart." He handed her the cup and looked over at MJ.

"Michael, she has a dog named Cosmo, just like father!"

The man smiled at MJ. "Are you a fan of space exploration? When Carina's father found Cosmo his name was on his tags and he just never changed it. I think Cosmo got him interested in Earth's history of space exploration."

MJ forced a smile. "Something like that." There was something about the man she didn't like she just couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe it was just that she was tired. The woman seemed pleasant enough. "Do you live around here?"

The man nodded, "We just moved to Forest Hills Gardens. This has been our first chance to explore the area. It's a lovely park."

"My husband and I both grew up in the area. It's a great place to live." She could see Bucky and Cosmo out of the corner of her eye. She wanted to avoid a scene if possible and Bucky definitely had a look on his face that screamed 'scene'. She stood up. "Enjoy the park! It's a beautiful day." She left the couple on the sidewalk and intercepted Bucky.

xxxxxxxxxx

Carina opened the door to the apartment. Putting her arm around Michael she helped him inside and closed the door behind them. "You're still weak. We shouldn't have gone out."

Michael sat down on the sofa in the modest living room. "I wanted to see the area they call home. Running into her was fortuitous." He twisted one of the rings on his finger absentmindedly. "I'll have plenty of time to rest."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Our enemy has a name - Michael Korvac. He's a completely obscure Marvel villain but he's kind of fun to work with. I stumbled upon him when I was researching The Collector. In the comics, Carina was The Collector's daughter. In the MCU, she was his "assistant/slave". In the comics, he sees Michael as a threat on a cosmic level and tries to use Carina as a weapon against him. She ends up falling in love with Michael instead. When my brain tried to reconcile the differences in the comic Carina and the MCU Carina, it came up with The Collector essentially mourning the apparent loss of his daughter and trying to replace her with the other assistants, giving them all the name Carina. So like everything else, there are shades of MCU and the comics in everything. ******


	14. Home

"You didn't watch the message?" Rhodey looked at his friend incredulously.

"I got it right before we went to go fight the bad guy. It kind of slipped my mind." Tony scrubbed a hand over his face. "Then Peter dropped the bombshell about MJ being pregnant and I oscillated between being pissed at him and so unbelievably happy for him I kind of forgot about it."

"I knew first. I just want you to remember that. Which means I'll be the kids' favorite uncle."

"Great Uncle." Tony corrected. "You and I are getting old. Should I go the traditional 'Papa' route or go for something else?"

Rhodey shook his head. "You've got a couple months to decide. The message. FRIDAY found something I wasn't expecting." He pulled up an image on the tablet in his hands of a ring and handed it to Tony. "Any of these symbols look familiar?"

Tony studied the picture and looked back up at Rhodey. "Why don't you just get me to the finish line."

Rhodey sighed, usually Tony liked figuring things out on his own. When the team got back they all looked like they had been through the wringer. He pulled up another image next to the picture of the ring.

"That I do recognize." Tony stared at the image. It being brought up twice in a row wasn't a coincidence. He focused harder on the ring. "That's from The Collectors' isn't it."

Rhodey nodded. "We knew they weren't eradicated. The cells were just too insulated. Hydra took priority but they're still around. I wasn't expecting to find a symbol from their insignia off Earth."

Tony looked at the larger insignia on the tablet in front of him. The first time he had really paid attention to it was the cave in Afghanistan. He was sure he had seen it before he just hadn't paid attention to it. In the cave it was a moment by moment reminder of exactly how screwed he was. "So I guess the question is did the Ten Rings originate here or out there?" He looked up at Rhodey. "I'm guessing you have some ideas."

Rhodey nodded. "I spent a couple days with Wong and Strange. And, they have feelers out to the other Sanctums. I got a message from Wong earlier today that he might have found something. I'm headed over there his afternoon."

Tony nodded. "Let me know what you find. As soon as I start FRIDAY's reintegration I'm heading to the lake house. Peter and MJ are coming up for the weekend." He paused for a moment. "Rhodey, keep Peter out of this."

"I figured you'd say that. As of right now, you and FRIDAY are the only two besides Strange and Wong that know anything. I'll make sure it stays that way." Rhodey took the table back and slid it under his arm. "Give Pepper and Morgan a kiss for me."

xxxxxxxxxx

Carina walked out of the bedroom. They had been on Earth off and on for a while but the entire environment still seemed odd to her. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down next to Michael. "How are you feeling?"

Michael looked up from the laptop he was working on and smiled. "I think I'm almost fully recovered." He frowned at the laptop, "Technology here is so difficult to use."

Carina leaned over to look at the screen. "Still no luck finding out anything else about them?"

Michael shook his head and closed the laptop. Resting his hands on top of it, he stared at the two rings adorning his hands, one bearing a crimson stone, the other a purple stone. "Up until I saw the image bearing both of these symbols, I thought they were just artifacts your father picked up." He studied the symbols, turning the rings over in his hands, looking for the thousandth time since Moord for something he hadn't seen before. He looked over at Carina. "If the image indeed corresponds to these rings, then there are eight more. I was powerful without these two rings. With them, my powers multiplied and granted me access to abilities I didn't have before. Imagine what all ten might be able to do." He closed his fist around the rings. "I would be able to take the Power Stone back from that child. They might even be enough to take on your father."

Carina placed her hand over Michaels. "Then we shall find them. And with them you'll fulfill your purpose."

xxxxxxxxxx

The elevator doors slid open. Peter pushed himself away from the back wall he had been leaning on and stepped into a relatively darkened hallway. It had taken longer to get away from the compound than he thought it would. Between the debriefing and getting checked out by medical he was arriving home way later than he wanted to. He had hoped that MJ had waited up for him, but he darkened hallway was making him think she had already gone to bed. He made his way towards the faint light in the living room but froze when he saw MJ asleep on the couch. His heart always fluttered a little when he saw her but right now his heart was in his throat.

He walked slowly and gingerly over to the sofa, taking in every aspect. Her hair was down, she had gotten it cut recently because the curls always behaved differently for a couple weeks. She had definitely fallen asleep earlier than she planned because she still had makeup on. She never wore a lot of it but had mastered the art of wearing the bare minimum and still looked stunning. He sunk down on the coffee table, never taking his eyes off her.

He felt a notebook under him and pulled it out, tearing his eyes away from her to look down and the sketch of Cosmo. It had been years since she had drawn anything. Smiling he placed the pad next to him and glanced back over at her. His eyes stopped on the small bump on her belly and he felt like time stopped. Sliding down to his knees, he knew tears were pooling in his eyes. He gently leaned forward and rested his head on her belly. Letting out a sigh, he closed his eyes and focused on the heartbeat.

MJ instinctively moved her hand towards her belly but when it came into contact with the familiar curls she smiled as she ran her fingers through them and forced her eyes open. "You're home!"

Peter pulled his head away and rolled back onto the balls of his feet, and turned to look at her. "I missed you." He didn't miss the tiny gasp as she took in the bruises still evident on his face. They'd be gone by morning but he knew he still looked rough. She started to push up and he shook his head. In a fluid motion, he slid his arms under her and scooped her off the couch. "Cosmo downstairs with Bucky?"

MJ nodded and leaned her head forward and kissed him. "I missed you too. You look like crap."

Peter grinned. He was definitely home. "You should see the other guy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everybody is home. And the Ten Rings are back. When I was trying to decide who the big bad was going to be I kept flipping between a lot of the better known villains - Galactus, Dr. Doom, even Annihilus. I kept trying to figure out how to do the Ten Rings but knew I wanted it partially set in space and just couldn't figure it out...until when I was reading about The Collector until I came upon this from Infinity War. "Everyone in the Galaxy knows you'd sell your own brother if you thought it would add even the slightest trinket to your pathetic collection." It's what Thanos says to the Collector when he comes for the Aether. And I thought...what if he did sell out his brother for a trinket. A ring that he probably knows the significance of...plus there are multiple ones and he likes to...you know...collect.


	15. Knowledge

"Colonel Rhodes, how much do you know about Chinese philosophy". Stephen pulled a book of the shelf and flipped to a page before turning to hand it to his visitor.

"Not as much as I feel like I'm going to know in the next thirty minutes." Rhodey sat down in one of the chairs and looked at the book that was handed to him. A familiar black and white symbol appeared at the top. "I'm pretty sure I've seen tattoos of this."

Stephen smiled, he had grown accustomed over the years to the snarky comments from both Rhodes and Stark. They each had their own brand of retorts. "At it's core, this is a concept of dualism. Darkness and light, good and evil. It describes how seemingly opposite forces are not only interconnected but also interdependent on each other."

"Darkness can't exist without light and good can't exist without evil." Rhodey flipped to the next page but pulled his hand back when the page forcibly turned back.

"Don't skip ahead." Stephen leaned back and tapped his fingers together waiting for his student's attention. Once he had it, he continued. "The symbols you brought us, on the surface, seem like typical symbols, albeit from an obscure dialect. Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Soul. Your typical base elements. Virtually all civilIzations have an equivalent."

"So far, you're not really telling me anything new. We had an entire team of semioticians researching this emblem even before Tony got grabbed. After, I had just about every specialist in the world digging into the Ten Rings." He pointed down at the print out of the Ten Rings emblem, "Besides those five you have another five symbols that mean manipulation of each of the elements. Except for the last one which is darkness." Rhodey looked over at Strange, waiting for the additional information he hoped the man had.

Strange nodded. "Correct. Which beings me back to the symbol in front of you. The symbols that make up the Ten Rings emblem illustrate the five elemental." He held up one scarred hand. "And five symbols that act on the elemental symbols." He held up his other hand and then interlocked his fingers. "They work together in an intricate interconnected and interdependent system. They can work alone, but if they are used in tandem they become significantly more powerful. We've seen this process in our research on the Infinity Stones. The reason why they're called 'Infinity Stones' is that when used together, their power multiples and the stones start acting on each other to create an infinite loop."

"Ok, our research did not find all of that." At least they were making progress. "So it's a weapon."

"It can be." Strange studied Rhodes. He always found it interesting where people's minds jumped to. Colonel Rhodes has spent his life in service to his county and he imagined he had fought many battles and had used many weapons. Of course his first thought of power would be to weaponize it. He felt that if he shared the same information with Dr. Cho, her response would be vastly different.

"Ok, how do we know it's got this power and that it can interact with other things. We never got past the symbols meanings. We could tie them to individual cells but figured they originated in the East and latched on to the organizational structure and symbols. Ten separate cells but able to operate both independently as well as together." Rhodey was starting to see the symmetry in what Strange was saying.

"What you didn't have is the additional engravings from the ring, although I think it's safe to assume that's actually plural." He flipped the page of the book in Rhodes hands.

"I hate it when you do that." Rhodey looked down at a drawing depicting a dragon with one of the symbols illuminated over its head. "Let me guess, Puff the magic dragon was real, he's the Mandarin, and he had magical rings."

"Not exactly. The Makluan were real and they had magical rings." Strange smiled inwardly at the puzzled expression on Rhodes' face. "And, best I can tell, the Makluan were not originally from Earth."

Rhodey looked over at Strange. Aliens on Earth was a concept they were all way too familiar with at this point. "And they looked like dragons?"

Strange shrugged, "Reptilian, at least"

Rhodey studied the picture. In addition to the symbol over its head there were additional symbols. He held the book closer to inspect the dragon itself. "Is the dragon wearing a ring?"

"Yes." He glanced over at the side where an orange portal opened. Wong stepped through it a moment later carrying a box in his hands. Strange rose and took the box from Wong and opened it. "He happens to be wearing this ring." He handed the box to their guest. In it, a ring was nestled in a piece of velvet. A ring baring a white stone and similar engravings as the one The Collector had in his possession.

xxxxxxxxxx

Elevator doors slid open, followed by the scampering of paws. "Incoming". Bucky yelled as he followed the dog out of the elevator. He had already texted Peter to make sure they were awake. He had offered to keep Cosmo downstairs when Peter came home on the chance that Cosmo decided he didn't remember him. MJ had taken one of Peter's shirts and given it to Cosmo but Peter had been gone so long they weren't sure how Cosmo was going to react.

Peter looked up from the pan of omelets he was cooking when he heard the the paws and the warning. He braced himself to either be attacked or bowled over. Luckily, it was the second one.

MJ leaned over the bar to make sure Peter wasn't fighting off teeth and laughed when she saw Peter fending off sloppy wet dog kisses. She looked back at Bucky. "It's ok...he's just getting drooled on."

Bucky slid into the stool next to MJ and looked over at Peter on the floor. "You look better than I was expecting. Sam said you, Tony, and Steve all looked like you got the crap beat out of you."

"He looked bad last night too. It's amazing what a good nights sleep does for him." MJ smiled at Peter as he untangled himself from Cosmo. He still had some light bruising on one side of his face and his nose and his chest and side still had some bruising as well but unless Cosmo was adding to the bruises, they'd be gone before dinner.

Peter stood up and moved over to the sink to wash the dog slobber off him. "So how were things here?" He looked over at the pan and realized the omelet was close to being done. Grabbing a plate he slid the omelet off and put it in front of MJ before starting another one.

"Did she tell you about the park?" Bucky asked, grabbing an apple out of the bowl and taking a bite.

Peter frowned at the glare MJ gave Bucky. "No. What happened at the park."

"This couple just gave me an unsettled feeling. Actually, it was just the husband." MJ took a bite of her omelet. "It was fine. We left right after."

Bucky took another bite of his apple. "I thought both of them were a little off."

Peter frowned again as he worked on the omelet. "Is that it?"

"Yes. No one tried to attack me. No one tried to kidnap me. Overall Bucky had a really easy time of it. Didn't have to use his Super Soldier skills in any way." MJ took another bite and smirked as Peter put an omelet in front of Bucky and started on a third one.

Bucky rolled his eyes and decided to change the subject. "What are your plans?"

"Appointment with Dr. Cho this afternoon then headed up to the lake house for the weekend. Beyond that I'm not sure." Peter finished the omelet and slid it onto a plate then pushed a little bit onto another plate and put it on the floor for Cosmo.

MJ took a sip of milk and looked at Bucky. "Since you're off MJ duty what are you doing."

Bucky looked down at his plate. "Nothing overly exciting."

Peter scrutinized Bucky. "Uh huh. Nothing at all...right."

"You are currently inactive, so yes, nothing."

Omelet forgotten, Peter crossed his arms and stared at Bucky. "It's not like they revoked my clearance."

Bucky sat back and grinned at how frustrated Peter was. "You can't not get involved. If I tell you what I'm doing you'll end up finagling your way into the briefing and then manage to come up with some angle as to why Spider-Man would be an asset to the op and the next think you know, you're jumping out of a plane in the middle of nowhere."

MJ stifled a laugh at the look of indignation on Peter's face. "He's right and I'm pulling the pregnancy card on this one and telling you you're inactive."

Peter's look softened. "MJ, that's not..."

"I know. But, Bucky is right. You can't help yourself. So I'm doing it for you. Finish your eggs and we can take Cosmo for a walk before we meet Dr. Cho."


	16. The Lake House

"Peeeettttteeeerrrrrr!" Morgan barreled out of the house when she saw Peter's car pull into the driveway. Opening the door, Cosmo jumped over him and headed for the house. Peter had just enough time to get out of the car before Morgan was on him. Reaching down he scooped her into the air. "Did you miss me?"

Morgan nodded her head. "Daddy said you made a new friend in space but he wouldn't tell me anything else. He said I wouldn't believe him but that Karen took a picture of him."

Peter chuckled and put Morgan down to pull out his phone. He flipped through the pictures until he found the one he was looking for and handed it to Morgan.

"It's a raccoon wearing clothes and he has a really big gun. And the tree has eyes and a mouth. Awesome!" Morgan flipped through some of his pictures. "Did you get any more pictures of the baby?"

MJ nodded as she shut the door. "There's a great shot of his foot. It's actually kind of funny. He has it in front of his face."

Morgan walked towards the house with Peter and MJ. "So why does the raccoon have a gun?"

"He was actually a really good fighter. Great pilot. He's bringing us a jump gate to install in the Quinship. When he gets here you can meet him." Peter squeezed MJ's hand as they walked up the front steps. "Installing a jump gate is inactive, right?"

MJ rolled her eyes and let go to hug Tony who had waited for them at the door. "Bucky was right. You look like crap."

A bruise had settled in under Tony's left eye. He wasn't even sure how he got it at this point. The cause for the sling he remembered. He kissed the top of her head. "Believe it or not I've looked worse." He looked over at Peter. "What did Dr. Cho have to say?" Pepper had walked out of the kitchen to hear the latest and slid her hand into his. They had kept Dr. Cho as the primary doctor because at this point she knew more about mutated DNA than any other doctor on the planet. She had an obstetrician that was consulting but so far MJ had a picture perfect pregnancy.

"Everything is progressing as it should. Heart beat is strong. We will officially be in our third trimester in two weeks." MJ walked over to the kitchen and poured a glass of water.

Pepper smiled and walked over and pulled out a bowl of sliced apples and placed them in front of MJ. "How are the ankles?"

MJ kicked her foot out. "Not terrible. The later in the day it gets the puffier they get. Walking in the morning helps. If I do it later it gets worse."

Pepper laughed. "Yeah, do you remember how puffy mine were?"

MJ put one of the apple slices into her mouth. "It's because you kept wearing heels."

Pepper shrugged. "Habits die hard. So, same rule I had is going in place. No traveling once you hit the third trimester."

MJ started to protest but saw Peter, Tony, and Morgan with their arms crossed and immediately knew she wouldn't win any argument she waged. But, she wasn't ready to throw in the towel. If she was going to have to take it easy, then Peter was going down too. "Ok. I'm assuming that goes for Peter too."

The look of indignation on Peter's face almost made Tony start laughing. Instead, he forced a straight face. "I think that's a great idea." Not only would it give Peter time with MJ and the baby when he came, but it also gave Peter the much needed break he would never take on his own. Plus it had the added benefit of keeping him out of whatever might come up with the Ten Rings. The look of indignation had shifted to a look of betrayal.

"Yeah! That means I'll see you more." Morgan smirked up at Peter. She looked over her mom. "When's dinner?"

Tony waited for all of the girls to head to the kitchen before pulling Peter back. "Would taking a leave of absence really be that bad?"

Peter looked at his dad and have no idea how to answer him. "It's not that I don't want to spend time with MJ and Morgan. I'm just not sure I know how to do nothing."

"I don't think any of us said do nothing. Spend some time in the SI labs. Everytime you step foot in there it seems like you come up with something ground breaking. Heck, I don't think any of are even saying don't go out as Spider-Man. Just step back from the long missions where somebody is trying to kill you." Tony watched Peter cycle through what he was saying.

"But..."

Tony put up a hand. "No buts...take a vacation. MJ is probably going to want to do the product reveal in Hong Kong next week. Why don't you both go and then head off somewhere for a couple days. Think of it as the last chance you two are actually going to have alone for the next 20-25 years." He smirked at the look on Peter's face. "Then, when you get back you can decide what you want to do."

xxxxxxxxxx

Tony sat back at his desk at the lake house and stared at the screen. The conversation with Peter had gone better than he anticipated. MJ bringing it up first had made his pushing not quite as obvious as he thought it might be. Rhodey had sent him an update on what he had learned from Strange and Wong. The idea that there were physical rings that somehow gave their user powers was unsettling and it made the Ten Rings go from annoying terror organization to an Avenger level threat. Rhodey had managed to convince Strange and Wong to let them study the ring but only in their presence which meant Tony was going to have to be strategic in his planning and do it when he knew Peter was no where around.

Pepper walked in and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "What are you worried about?"

"Who says I'm worried?" Tony glanced up at her. He had managed to slide the message from Rhodey off the screen before she saw it.

"Your forehead creases a little more than normal and your mouth has a definite frown that you're trying to hide. Are you worried about Peter, the baby, or something else."

Tony smiled. "Probably a combination of all three." He pulled Pepper into his lap. He would need to tell her that the Ten Rings were making a reappearance in their lives. She deserved that much. However, he needed to make sure Peter preferably was out of the house when he did it so he knew he was going to have to wait until he and MJ headed back. "The first couple weeks we were gone, Peter was back to talking a mile a minute about whatever it was we had just seen and making Star Wars references. It was nice to get a glimpse of that side of him again.

"And then everything got dicey and Spider-Man came out." Pepper studied Tony. After all these years, she had learned to read him. It was more than just Peter he was worried about.

Tony nodded. "And then he told me about MJ. I wish he had been here and gotten to experience all of those firsts that he's never going to get to do again."

Pepper shrugged. "MJ was fine. She and I had a heart to heart about it. She is remarkable. She knew who he was when she signed up for this. I think when she made the decision to drive to Boston to see him, she knew this might happen and decided she was ok with it. I get it. It took me much longer to get there with you. Part of me even now wants to think that every time is the last time you put on the suit and for the good reasons not the bad. But, deep down I know that you'll always put it on again if you need to." She rested her head on his chest. "I just wish it wasn't always you."

Tony sighed. "I know. You've got to admit I've been better about it lately." He took her silence as her acquiesce to the statement. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask. Did I see some of the woods being cleared?"

Pepper had wondered how long it was going to take him to notice. "Yes. I'm clearing some area for a pasture."

Tony groaned. A pasture meant one thing...horses.

Pepper stood up and shrugged. She reached her hand down to pull him up. "That's what you get for being gone so long. Come on, let's go to bed. Morgan will be up before you know it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Ok, that was way more fluff than I usually do. We'll get back the action shorty. So thoughts on the Ten Rings? As always reviews and comments are always appreciated!**


	17. The Ten Rings

Tony looked at the information displayed on the screens in the command center. Groups with ties to to the Ten Rings. Some functioned as actual terror cells while others flew further under the radar. They were all groups that were actively being monitored by just about every security agency in the world but he was pretty sure that Rhodey was the only one that was actively trying to tie them all together.

Rhodey moved next to him and looked over the information. "How did Pepper take it?"

Tony shrugged. "She's a little freaked out about it. She's keeping Morgan at the Lake House and we added some additional security." Both times the Ten Rings had impacted their lives had been fairly traumatic for Pepper. He wanted nothing more than to insulate her from whatever was going on but telling her had definitely been the right move. Keeping Peter away from it was going to be the problem.

"I know you wanted to keep it quiet but this is too big for just the two of us to handle." Rhodey glanced at his friend before shifting one of the screens around.

A sigh escaping, Tony crossed his arms and looked at the door as Steve, Natasha, Sam, Bucky, Johnny, Wyatt, Bobby, and Davis walked in. The need to bring in others had made itself apparent the deeper Rhodey dug into the different organizations. "I know. I'm just still trying to find a way to keep Peter out of this. With them involved it just makes it that much harder."

They both turned to face the group assembled in front of them. He could see them all taking in the information on the screens. Natasha had a mask of indifference but out of all of them she probably knew the most about the Ten Rings and specifically what they had cost Tony over the years. Rhodey stepped forward and highlighted one of the images. "I think you're all familiar with the emblem. What we didn't understand until recently was that the name was literal. It refers to actual rings." He highlighted the scan FRIDAY had isolated from The Collector's and looked back at Steve and Natasha. "FRIDAY scanned everything she could at The Collectors'. There have always been alerts in her system to notify me of anything related to the Ten Rings." He pointed to one of the symbols on the ring which FRIDAY isolated and matched up to one of the symbols on the emblem.

"So the Ten Rings are aliens?" Bobby crossed his arms and looked between the two images.

"Not quite. The rings are of alien origin but we think the Ten Rings are very much human organizations. Wong is trying to trace the rings' history but we believe some of them at least have been on Earth for a while. They're in possession of one of the rings." He pointed to an image of the ring Wong had produced and highlighted another symbol on the emblem. He pulled up a series of three more individuals with highlights of rings worn on their fingers. "With that knowledge, we've identified three more on Earth."

The group sat back and took in the pictures in front of them. It was an impressive group that included the new leader of the Afghanistan based terror organization that had been the face of the Ten Rings for so long. It also included the leaders of the Triad in China and Le Milieu in France. Natasha studied the screen. "The Triad and Le Milieu aren't terrorist organizations, they're organized crime syndicates."

Rhodey nodded. "Which has us looking at everything at this point. What's displayed in front of you is the best guess as to who might be included in the Ten Rings. Based on what we've seen, they're a mixture of terror groups and organized crime syndicates loosely connected by The Mandarin." He glanced over at Tony. "Who we know was not involved in the Extremis incident ten years ago."

Davis studied the pictures of the rings. "You think there are ten organizations but you've only identified three of them?" Getting an affirmative nod from Rhodey he looked at the other crime syndicate groups shown on the board. "You're missing one. My father has a ring like that. He only wore it on business trips."

Rhodey stared at Davis. "You're sure?"

Davis nodded. He studied the Ten Rings emblem. "The engravings match that symbol. It has a yellowish stone in it."

Tony walked forward and looked at the symbol. "Did you ever see your dad wearing it and be able to do anything odd."

Davis turned to look at Tony. "What do you mean odd? He only wore it when he traveled, which was only a couple times a year. The rest of the time he kept it in an ornate box."

"Wong let me run some tests on their ring. It emits radiation similar to the Infinity Stones." Tony paused and looked at the pictures of the rings displayed in front of them. "I think they may be weapons."

Davis shook his head. "I never saw him use it as a weapon. He didn't need it. He was pretty dangerous without it."

Natasha crossed her arms and walked closer to the picture of the head of Le Milieu. "What's the objective."

"Well, while were waiting to hear if our friend from Moord has reared his head, we might as well investigate alien weapons in the hands of terrorists and crime lords. Maybe see if we can locate additional rings on Earth. We've potentially identified four in the hands of the Ten Rings. We know The Collector has one and we have one. There's still four missing." Tony paused and thought back to their battle on Moord. The rings might give them an advantage over their foe if they could figure out how they worked.

"I can get in with Le Milieu. I have a cover that's still good." Natasha turned and looked at Wyatt and Johnny. "Up for a field trip?"

xxxxxxxxxx

Davis stayed back while the rest of the group dispersed. "Tony, are we going to try to retrieve the rings?"

Tony studied Davis. He couldn't read the expression on his face. Over the last couple years Davis had on occasion made a comment about his father. None of them were good. Charles had told him a little bit about what it had taken to get Davis away from his father after his powers had triggered but only enough information to paint the picture that it had been bad. "Davis, you don't have to be involved in this."

"I think I do. Not just because I have on the ground knowledge but also because I need to be involved. I need to put my past where it belongs and I don't think I can ever do that if I don't face him." He looked down for a moment before looking back at Tony. The unreadable expression had shifted to one that Tony recognized. Fear mixed with determination. He had seen the same look on Peter's face more times than he could count. "I just know I need backup when I do it."

Tony nodded. "We won't do it for a while. We don't want to tip our hand yet. But, when we do, you'll be in on the planning. You can decide then what you want to do. Until then, don't let it cloud your judgement."

David nodded. Over the years he had come to view not only his team but the rest of the groups he was associated with as his family. At first it had been an odd feeling. No one had ever cared about his wellbeing. After his mother had died he and his sister had been an inconvenience, inconveniences that could be removed if they proved to be too much trouble. With his father, it had always been a matter of whether or not they were of value to him. With the people he surrounded himself with now, he mattered and it had nothing to do with what he could do. He thought Charles and Tony both would prefer that they all give up the superhero life and just be normal. "Thanks Tony."


	18. The Rings

"Nat, has Steve seen your hair?"

"Wyatt, that was quite possibly the most sexist thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth." Natasha smirked to herself as she sat in at a table at an outdoor cafe and ordered a coffee. The Arc de Triomphe could be seen a couple blocks ahead of her.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry, I'm just used to seeing you as a redhead."

Natasha ran her hand over the short hair. She had been a blond last time she had sold weapons to Luc so thought she should at least mimic the look. She smiled as she took a sip of her coffee, using the cup to hide her mouth, "Wyatt, just keep your eyes open. Is Johnny in position?"

"I'm in position. I'm trying to figure out how to not become collateral damage when you pay Wyatt back for the hair comment."

Natasha smiled again. She had functioned in many roles over the years. When she and Steve had agreed to run SHIELD, part of her had missed the field. But, the reality of life was setting in. She wasn't 20 years old anymore. She had enjoyed training the next generation of superhero's although the result of functioning in that role made her feel like a den mother sometimes. Add that to how outgunned she had felt in space and she knew she had to get back in the field. Even if it did mean she had 20 somethings backing her up.

"Um...Nat...we have a problem." Wyatt trained the binoculars on a couple walking down the sidewalk. His view from the hotel room gave him a great line of sight for anyone approaching Natasha as well as any egress route she might need to take. "Peter and MJ are about a half a block away."

"I thought they were going to Bali after the thing in Hong Kong?" Johnny shifted slightly on the bench he was sitting on to look covertly down the block.

"You know Peter, on occasion, gets these romantic ideas in his head. They've never been to Paris. If you don't act like there's anything wrong he won't trigger on you." Natasha took another sip of coffee. She hoped she was correct in her assessment. Luc would be here in less than ten minutes. She caught sight of MJ first and shifted slightly so her face was away from their line of sight. Tony's instructions had been clear - keep Peter away from the Ten Rings. It was a mandate they had all emphatically supported. They wanted Peter to enjoy time with MJ before the baby got here and more importantly enjoy time together as a family after the baby got here. Peter had a knack for letting trouble find him. The first couple years after she had met him, she assumed that he looked for trouble. Then she realized that more often than not, trouble found him. The problem was he couldn't help but to get involved.

MJ shifted her hand in Peter's. "I'm glad we came here instead. I know Bali is relaxing but this is so much better."

Peter smiled. "Glad you approve. Tell me if you need to slow down." He had spent the last week figuring out what pregnant MJ was like. Between a couple mood swings and just not having as much stamina as she had before he had made a couple miscalculations along the way but thought he was settling into a rhythm. He tensed slightly and looked around. Years of being Spider-Man had ingrained a couple behaviors that he did on autopilot anytime he felt any kind of tingle.

"No."

Peter broke his concentration on checking down on his surroundings and looked over at MJ. "What?"

"Your hand tensed up. That generally means you triggered on something. Whatever it is, let it be someone else's problem."

Peter forced himself to relax and smiled. "Ok. Where do you want to go...catacombs or one of the cemeteries? We can do the Eiffel Tower tonight."

MJ grinned. "Cemeteries...the one where they buried everyone beheaded during the the French Revolution. I think Lafayette is there too."

Peter shook his head and hailed a cab, missing the tall man sitting down at the table with a woman with short blond hair.

Natasha glanced up at the man that had seated himself across from her. "Luc, as always good to see you."

"Nadia, you haven't changed a bit. If I didn't know better I would assume you have a portrait in a closet that ages for you." Luc studied the woman in front of him. Nadia had always been a terrific source of weapons. She had always managed to get her hands on cutting edge weapons technology. She'd resurface every couple years although it seemed like it had been more than a couple years since he'd heard from her. "I suppose you have some fantastic piece of merchandise to dazzle me with that has an equally fantastic price."

Natasha smiled. "Luc, you know me too well. If you're in the market, we can arrange for something a little more private."

Luc leaned forward and folded his hands on the table in front of him, the translucent blue stone of the ring he wore reflecting the sun. "Nadia, I'm always in the market. Do you remember the club I own in Montmartre?" Receiving a nod he continued. "Meet me there tonight...say 11pm?"

"I'll see you tonight."

xxxxxxxxxx

Strange crossed his arms and watched Tony place the ring on a clear pedestal. "You're not going to damage it, right?"

Tony glanced up and gave Strange a look of disbelief. "I'm just scanning it." A 3-D display of the ring appeared above the ring and the pedestal allowing Tony to rotate it around. "This is the symbol for air, right?"

"Yes, although it could also be translated as wind." Strange walked closer and examined the symbols covering the ring. "I believe some of these also translate as vortex as well."

"Great...wind vortex. Not destructive at all." Tony expansed the area of the stone. "FRIDAY, give me an analysis of the stone."

Another 3-D display appeared over the stone showing its chemical makeup and various radiation and energy signatures. "The stone bears a resemblance to the Infinity Stones however it is not identical."

Tony studied the displays. "The gamma radiation is much lower than the Infinity Stones but it's a similar wavelength."

Rhodey leaned forward and looked at the readings. "They're not from Earth so I would have expected that. What's interesting is the electrostatic output."

Strange frowned at the Rhodey and Tony. "Electrostatic? That's how you think Peter's sticky, right?"

Tony nodded. "It may explain how it acts as a weapon." He glanced up at Strange. "You said the texts indicated that it was a weapon, right?"

Strange nodded. "It grants it's bearer access to its power."

Tony grinned. "The let's see if it'll grant one of us access to its power."

Rhodey rolled his eyes. Of course that's where Tony's mind went to, but he was curious about the electrostatic readings. "West labs are still cleared out?"

Strange reached over and picked up the ring. "Fine. But I get to try it out."

xxxxxxxxxx

Michael placed the newspaper down in front of Carina. "See anything familiar?"

Carina studied the article in front of her. 'From Hell's Kitchen to Wall Street...the rise of Wilson Fisk'. The corresponding picture showed a large man at a charity ball. She pulled the paper closer. "He has one of the rings."

"We will have to learn more about Mr. Fisk." Michael sat back in his chair and looked at Carina. "Serendipity is smiling on us. I was worried we would have to travel this pathetic globe in search of the rings. Turns out one is just a few blocks away."

xxxxxxxxxx

Rhodey looked around the west labs. The damage from the bleed through event had been cleaned up but if possible, even more damage littered the area now. "Wind vortex. Did they not have the word tornado?"

Strange slid the ring off his finger. "They do...it's vortex."

Tony had brought down the shield he had used to protect himself and Rhodey. "The readings spiked the second you triggered it and grew exponentially the longer you held the vortex." He looked over at Strange, "How did it feel?"

Strange shrugged. "A little tingly. I would assume that's the electrostatic energy. Other than that, I did feel like I could control it."

Tony nodded and looked back down at the readings. "Your vitals seemed fine during the test. I'll focus on brain waves this time. See if you can focus the vortex."

Strange nodded and waited for Tony to bring the shield back up that protected the two men and the equipment they were using. Once ensured they were protected he focuses on the ring again. The vortex appeared around him but this time he focused on narrowing its effect. This time the vortex narrowed itself into a thin beam. Aiming it at an exterior wall he watched as it punctured a hole within seconds. Letting the vortex fall, he turned to look at Tony and Rhodey. "I think it checks the box as a weapon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Peter and MJ in Paris was one of those things that didn’t quite go the way I wanted it to when I was writing it. It was going to be a larger plot line but I decided part of the way through it that it wasn’t working the way I wanted it to. But, instead of reworking the scene I opted to leave it because it’s big that Peter chose MJ over whatever he was triggering on. It’s not the same choice he’s made in the past.**
> 
> **Also, since my focus is primarily on Peter (and Tony) I don’t dive into Steve and Nat but they’re definitely a thing... ******


	19. Plans

Johnny took a sip of his drink as he watched Natasha and Wyatt make their way through the night club, the music vibrating through his chest. There was an art to doing surveillance in a nightclub. He had gotten better at it over the last couple years simply because the music was too loud for Peter. Tony had tried rigging various devices over the years but nothing truly worked so Peter was generally relegated to watching the outside. He wished he had Peter's metabolism. He had been inside since 10:00 and it was now well after midnight. There was only so long you could nurse a drink. He had dumped a couple inconspicuously onto the floor. His job was solely to watch and get a feel for Luc's movement and figure out who had guns on them in case they needed to fight their way out. He took another sip and thought through his ability to actually flame up. He was slightly worried if he did there was so much alcohol around him the entire place would be engulfed within minutes. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Natasha snaked her way through the club. She enjoyed playing the part of Nadia Rushing, arms dealer. While everyone knew Luc ran everything criminal in France, he had never himself been her target. Natasha's interactions with him over the years were much longer plays that involved his associates and not specifically him which had helped her keep her cover as long as she had. That was changing tonight.

Stopping in front of a body guard that blocked stairs leading to an upper level she tilted her head and watched the man listen to instructions in his ear. Stepping aside he allowed her passage and eyed Wyatt suspiciously. "He's with me." Not waiting for a response and knowing that Wyatt would follow her up the stairs, she started the climb she had made before. The upper level had a glass wall that enabled its occupants to view the level below without the distraction of the pounding music. Gracefully alighting at the top of the steps she quickly surveilled the area. Everyone up here was considered to be a hostile, even the women adorning the arms of Luc's men. If they were in this area they were involved in the illegal side of Luc's business and were either buying or selling. There were a few gaming tables set up but those simply served to give the illusion of civility. The real business being conducted was the buying and selling of everything from drugs, to people, to weapons.

"Nadia, fashionable late as always." Luc ran his eyes over the woman making her way over. She had always been stunning and now was no exception. Early in their relationship he had wondered what made a woman like her get involved in weapons dealing but then he had seen her in action after a deal had gone south with one of his associates. His man had tried to kill both of them. He had realized two things that night...she was not someone you wanted to mess with and he owed her more than he could ever repay. He had been worried what that would cost him but it had turned out to be a fairly lucrative partnership for both of them. He waited until she sat down before continuing. "What have you brought me?"

Natasha nodded to Wyatt who placed a hologram projector on the table and triggered the image. "The latest in stealth technology. They've had it on planes for a while but it's now mobile and able to be applied to weapons."

Luc studied the image. Undetectable weapons were always of value. Nadia definitely knew how to pique his interest. "When can I see them in person?"

"Let's arrange something a little more private in a couple days." Natasha reached forward and disengaged the hologram before handing it back to Wyatt. Standing up in a fluid motion she turned to leave. "I'll call you when I have something lined up."

xxxxxxxxxx

Sitting at the desk in Wyatt and Johnny's room, she waited for Rhodey's face to appear. "He's definitely got the ring. He's had it on both times we've met."

"Which symbol?" Rhodey watched Natasha look down at the symbols from the Ten Rings emblem.

Wyatt looked over Natasha's shoulder and pointed to one of them. "That one." He glanced over at Natasha to gauge her confirmation before looked up at the screen. "Water."

Rhodey nodded and made a note on the tablet in front of him. "Ok. If it's anything like the one Strange has it'll be able to use water and direct it as a weapon."

Johnny shrugged. "I may be able to burn hot enough to evaporate it if it comes down to it."

Rhodey nodded. "Do you want me to send Bobby your way? Just in case?"

Natasha shook her head. "I think we can handle it. What's the plan for retrieving them?"

"We need to get people in place for all of them before we move. If we grab one it'll tip the others off and make it that much harder to retrieve. Afghanistan is proving to be a little harder than the rest."

Natasha nodded. "Tell Tony I'm going to need a couple stealth prototypes. Oh, and tell him that Peter and MJ did not go to Bali. They're in Paris."

Rhodey frowned. "Did they see you?"

"Of course not. We don't think he triggered on anything either. But you know Peter...if trouble's around, he'll find it."

Rhodey shook his head. "I know. They're supposed to be home sometime tomorrow so maybe he can stay away from messing with the French underworld for a couple more hours."

xxxxxxxxxx

Bucky leaned over Steve's shoulder and looked at the monitor. "Our chances of finding him this way is somewhere around zero."

"I'm open to suggestions." Steve tapped a pencil on the desk in front of him. "They stay in caves for a reason. Even with all of the improvements in ground penetrating radar, it still doesn't give you positive identifications."

"We need to be on the ground. We're not going to find him by sitting in a bunker." Sam crossed his arms and leaned against the wall in the small ops room. "We should have brought Wyatt with us."

Bucky looked over at Sam. "Why?"

"He's good at tracking. He could, I don't know...track them."

Steve looked up from the screen. "Tracking." Pausing he sat back and looked blankly at the screen before turning to look at Bucky. "These things emit some kind of radiation. We should be able to track it just like we did he Space Stone and just like we did with Peter."

Bucky chuckled. "Maybe, but you do realize that out of the people you have in this room, none of us are exactly the science type."

"True, but we know lots of people who are." Steve picked up the radio as Sam pulled away from the wall and walked to stand beside him.

"You can't call Tony and you definitely can't call Peter." They has all agreed to leave Peter out of anything related to the Ten Rings. They were also acutely aware of Tony's history with them. Sam could tell just by looking at Tony this was stirring up some old ghosts.

They had a couple of options but Steve thought one in particular would be best suited. He connected to the compound and waited for Rhodey to answer. "Hey Rhodey, can you find Bruce. We have an idea."


	20. Back In New York

Tony stood under the overhang and watched Peter and MJ walk down the steps of the plane. He was glad Rhodey had given him a heads up that Peter had been in France. After all these years, Peter could still render him speechless when he caught him off guard. There was no logical reason why Peter and MJ couldn't go to Paris so there would be no logical reason why Tony would be bothered by the idea of Peter being in Paris. But, since he had a heads up he should be able to cover. He waited until they got closer and walked over to meet them, hugging MJ and kissing her head and then hugging Peter. "FRIDAY said you went to Paris. How was the city of lights?"

"Beautiful. I'm glad Peter brought it up. It seems like every time we've tried to go something has come up." MJ smirked at the sheepish grin that spread across Peter's face. Every time they had planned to go to Paris the something that came up was always superhero related.

"Two days was the perfect amount of time." Peter adjusted their bag on his shoulder. "What did we miss?"

Tony shrugged and turned to walk into the compound with them. "Stock prices are up after the Hong Kong product reveal, Thor and Loki got to see New Asgard for the first time. Pepper's horses get here next week. Nothing too exciting."

Peter glanced up and down the empty hallways. They weren't exactly in the middle of Avenger ops, but there were usually way more people milling about. "Where is everyone?"

Tony shook his head. "No idea. They only call me for the big stuff. Are you headed back to the city?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, I just want to grab something out of the lab. If everyone is going to insist that I be "inactive" I want to do some testing on the stealth suit." Peter realized next had greatly exaggerated the word 'inactive' and he was shocked at his dad's restraint in teasing him about it.

"That's a great idea. Maybe do some training with Miles. As you discovered when you were younger, there's really no one that can keep up with Spider-Man when he's swinging without causing a lot of chaos. I worry about him not having backup."

Peter nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. He seems to listen to me and I have no idea why."

MJ smiled. "It's because you're the Spider-Man. He sees himself as just a Spider-Man. He's always going to idolize you." She laughed when Peter rolled his eyes, making very clear that he didn't see why anyone would idolize him. "I saw him a couple weeks ago. He came by to say hi. He did mention that he thought there was a new player in town."

Peter frowned. "Is it ok if I go out tonight?" Miles being worried about a new player in New York worried him. New York had no shortage of gangs but for the most part they were consistent. The same groups tended to run everything. The Maggia still had their hands in everything although they had been losing power over the years after some of their key members had been arrested during the Terrigen drug incident.

MJ nodded. Peter very rarely asked for permission to do something Spider-Man related. He'd make the attempt but more often than not he just ended up in situations. She knew he had been feeling guilting over missing so much while he was gone and she appreciated that he was trying. "How'd you get the stealth suit to work?" She followed Peter and Tony into the lab. They had been messing around with integrating the same technology Tony used on the Quinjet into the suits for years and hadn't been overly successful. She was curious when they managed the breakthrough. She had noticed over the years that both of them tended to come up with solutions to whatever problem was plaguing them out of no where, generally when they were working on something completely unrelated.

Peter grabbed a containment unit off a table. "I'm not sure I have fixed it which is why I want to try it out." He looked over at his dad as they started walking back out of the lab. "Did FRIDAY finish integrating?"

Tony nodded. "About an hour before you got here so I decided to stick around." FRIDAY's integration had been painstakingly slow. Merging months of information together had taken longer than he anticipated. "I'm still testing her. There may be some bugs that need to be worked out so heads up."

"We're you able to assemble all of the data we accumulated?" Peter pulled open the lab door to exit, letting his dad and MJ through before closing it again.

Tony chuckled. "The amount of data we have will take years to go through. Reed's going to handle the astronomical data. Between what they mapped and what you pulled off of the jump drives he's like a kid at Christmas."

"Speaking of, have you heard from Rocket yet?"

Tony shook his head. "No, but I imagine they're just going to pop in unannounced once they have the jump drive."

MJ shook her head. "I used to think it was surreal that we...two kids from Queens...were dealing with presidents and kings. Then I met a Pegasus and I thought that surely that would be the pinnacle of the weirdness in our lives. But no...you had to top it by becoming friends with a talking raccoon that is using Thor's credits to buy you a jump drive for the Quinship."

Peter shrugged. "You'll like him. He's incredibly sarcastic."

"Plus it was good use of funds. I'm basically bankrolling New Asgard. Norway isn't quite up to speed with Asgardian currency. It seemed to be a good trade." Tony crossed his arms and watched Peter put their bag into the trunk of Peter's car.

Peter glanced over at his dad's car which was parked next to his. "When are you headed back to the lake house?"

"I'm going to check in with Rhodey before I head out. See if he's heard from Carol yet."

Peter looked around the parking deck which was full of familiar cars. "Is everyone out on a mission?"

"I don't know. I told you, they only call me for the big stuff." Tony smirked at Peter. "Be careful tonight."

xxxxxxxxxx

Davis looked up from the computer screen as Tony closed the door behind him. "You know you're not going to be able to keep him out of this. He's eventually going to end up getting involved. He always does."

Tony scrubbed a hand over his face and sat down in the chair next to Davis. "I know." He looked at the various screens. "Anyone having much luck?"

"Nat's ready to go. Hong Kong Sanctum has eyes on the head of the Triad. They think it'll get messy so Logan, Kitty, and Jean are headed that way. Steve called and asked Dr. Banner if he would bring the gamma detection equipment and configure it to the rings. He's hoping it will narrow down where their guy is hiding. We have satellites tracking my father so as soon as we're ready we can go." Davis looked over at Tony, "We are going at some point, right."

Tony nodded. "Where's Rhodey?"

"Dr. Banner needed some convincing. He went with them to make sure he didn't Hulk out." Davis studied the expression on Tony's face. "I don't need a babysitter. I know what's at stake. Plus, Bobby's here too. He just ran out to get pizza."

"Davis, there's a reason Steve didn't call me to help with the gamma detection. Afghanistan hits a little too close to home. You're watching surveillance on the man who tried to kill you and did kill your sister. That's a lot to deal with." Tony watched Davis, he had seen the neutral mask of defense too often and on too many people, himself included.

Davis took a deep breath and debated his response. "My father died a long time ago. The man that we're surveilling is just the next target."

Tony knew he wasn't going to make it through Davis' facade any time soon. He turned his head when he heard the door open and saw Bobby walk in with pizza boxes. "Just know if you need anything..."

Davis smiled. "I know. And I appreciate it."

Tony stood up. "I will leave you two to your pizza. Let me know if anything changes. I'm heading back to the lake house." He paused at the door. "Just a heads up...FRIDAY's integration is done, but I'm still testing her. If anything seems off, let me know."

xxxxxxxxxx

Peter landed lightly on the rooftop, watching a black suited figure crouched near the edge, surveilling the street below.

"I know you're there." Miles turned to his right and watched a Spider-Man suit appear.

"How did it look?" Peter sat down on the ledge next to Miles and looked down over the city before turning back and looking expectantly at the other Spider-Man that has shifted to sit next to him.

"It's actually pretty cool. You can't really see anything. If you look really hard you can kind of see something shimmering a little but no one would ever know to look." Miles grinned at Peter. "I'm glad you're back. How was space?"

Peter shrugged. "Very cool part of the time. Utterly terrifying at other times." Peter paused for a moment. "We didn't get him. We got the Power Stone away from him but he disappeared before we stopped him."

"What does that mean? Is he coming here?" Miles felt a little bit of fear creep under the bravado that he always felt when he was wearing the suit.

Peter shook his head. "I don't know." He looked down at the streets below him, full of people who had no idea what was out there. Shaking himself out of the spiraling thoughts of what might be on the horizon, he turned to Miles. "MJ said you thought there was a new player in town. What's going on?"

Miles shrugged. "I can't figure it out. There's a lot of tension with all of the gangs. The Maggia always managed to maintain control. Lately, it seems like they're losing some of their territory but I can't pin down who's stepping in." Miles sighed, "Maybe they're just imploding and turning on each other."

Peter stood up. "Let's see if we can find out." He waited for Miles to stand up. Even with the mask on he could tell Miles had a grin on his face. Swinging through New York wasn't something anyone but Miles understood. It was fun to share it with someone. He waited until Miles dove off the roof before slinging his own web and following. Triggering the stealth mode, the second Spider-Man disappeared into the night sky.


	21. Gang War

Peter pressed his hands agains the side of an apartment building as Miles perched next to him. He had kept the stealth mode engaged. He didn't think anyone would see him but he didn't want to take the chance. The world knew he was Spider-Man. The world did not know a second Spider-Man existed and he knew Miles wanted to keep it that way. "Who's the big guy?"

Miles shook his head. "Haven't seen him before. Big Turk has been the face I've been seeing lately. I found out that he turned on the Fortunatos but I knew there was no way he was working on his own."

Peter chuckled, "Big Turk isn't exactly management material. I had a run in with him when I was still in high school. He might be tough but he's dumb as a rock."

"Man, that's an insult to rocks." Miles' mask adjusted so he could see the new guy Peter was talking about. "He is big." The man seemed vaguely familiar to Miles but he couldn't place him. "I've got no idea who he is." Miles watched a car pull up to where Big Turk and the larger man were standing. "But, I think it's about to get interesting. That's Carmen Nobili."

Peter watched a man step out of the back of a town car. The Nobili's were one of the other Maggia families...one of the lower tier families. If a power play was being made it made sense to knock off he lesser tier families first. The Fortunatos and the Nobili's were definitely lesser tier families. Peter glanced around the area. Karen had already painted several presumed targets not in the open. There were too many apartment buildings and businesses in close proximity. If this did get messy there were way too many opportunities for collateral damage.

Peter tensed moments before Miles did. They both dropped off the side of the building in unison as gunfire erupted below them. Peter slung webs towards the targets concealed in the shadows. He instantly added "upgrade Miles's suit" to the list of things to do while he was "inactive". Miles was holding his own, but he was limited on weapons choices. He also made note that stealth mode didn't hold up when getting hit with bullets. His suit was fully visible now. He'd have to work on scrubbing any footage of two Spider-Mans when this was over.

Both the Nobili as well as their new player had backup lurking the in the shadows. It was turning into an all out gunfight. Peter and Miles flung webs in as many directions as they could but it seemed like they were only tangling up maybe half of the bad guys. Peter spotted the big guy and Big Turk and swung towards them. Firing a web towards Big Turk he snagged the automatic weapon in his hands and yanked it upward. Suddenly unprotected, a volley of gunfire erupted from the Nobili. Peter flipped over to fling a series of web grenades at the Nobili when Karen echoed in his ear.

"Alien tech detected. Enacting 'I am not fine' protocol. Calling Mr. Stark."

Peter fired webs through the confusion. "Karen, what's wrong with you. That protocol has been disabled for years." Before she could respond, he could hear his dad's voice through his mask.

"Pete, what's wrong. FRIDAY connected me to Karen and said the 'I am not fine' protocol has been triggered. That's..."

"Yeah, I think we found a kink in FRIDAY." Peter felt a warmth growing next to him. Spinning around he saw one of the apartment buildings on fire. "Shit! Dad, I can't talk right now."

"I'm headed that way. Is Miles with you?" Tony tapped the nanohousing on his chest, letting the suit form around him.

"It'll take you 30 minutes to get here and I'm in the middle of a gang war and an apartment fire." Peter scanned the building for occupants. Many of the residents were already streaming out of the doors and windows but the buildings was almost totally engulfed in flames. He spotted Miles swinging towards the upper levels and propelled himself upward. The bad guys below would have to wait.

"FRIDAY's reporting Police and Fire in route to you." Tony looked at the readings appearing on his HUD. He could probably beat Peter's 30 minute estimate but not by enough to do much good.

"I can hear them." Peter kicked in a crumbling door and pushed through the flames towards a lady crouched in the floor. Scooping her up he backed out of the room and scanned the rest of the floor to make sure she was the only one before swinging out a window. "Dad, just meet me at the tower." He landed near one of the ambulances that had just pulled up to the scene and handed off the woman before swinging back towards the apartment building.

Peter lost count of the trips he made into the building. The flames had engulfed the building so quickly a lot of people had been trapped on the upper floors. He hoped that the sheer number of emergency responders on site had allowed for multiple Spider-Men to go undetected. He could altar his suits' colors so when he lost the stealth mode he had Karen change his suit to match Miles'. He thought it would at least mask that different Spider-Mans were rescuing people from the building. As he dropped off what he thought was the last rescue, he spotted Miles landing on the side of a neighboring building. Plotting his trajectory he landed on the building next to him. "You ok?"

Miles nodded. "I think everyone is out." He focused on the building, knowing Peter was doing the same thing.

"Karen isn't picking up any additional readings." Of course Peter wasn't sure how reliable Karen was right now. He couldn't figure out why a glitch with FRIDAY would have messed with Karen. Peter looked back down at the street. The fire trucks had already set up and were dousing flames. "Any idea what happened?"

Miles looked over at Peter and shook his head. "I moved over to wrap up two of the gunmen. The apartment was engulfed within seconds of whatever happened." Miles looked back at the building. "Maybe a bullet hit a gas line."

"Maybe. I don't think I've ever seen a building go up that fast." Peter looked down at the street. All of the targets previously painted on his HUD had vanished. "I think all of our friends scattered when the police showed up." Peter zoomed in on the scene below. "Uh, Miles...is your dad on duty tonight?"

"Yeah, why?" Miles looked down at the street. "Crap...". He saw his dad directing the other officers below. He went to great lengths to avoid his dad when he was out as Spider-Man.

"Go home. I'll take care of this." Peter looked at the younger Spider-Man next to him. "I got it."

Miles nodded and dove off the building into the shadows, carefully avoiding being seen. Peter took a deep breath and dove off the building into the light cast by the flames and flashing lights, flinging a web to slow his fall. He landed in front of a group of fire fighter. "I think I got everyone out."

The fire chief nodded. "Thanks Spider-Man." He looked over at a group of police officers. "I think Captain Stacy has some questions about your presents."

"He's here too?" Peter followed the fire fighter's line of sight and recognized not only Miles' dad but also Gwen's father. Groaning inwardly he made his way over to the group. "Captain Stacy, Officer Davis..."

"Peter...do you want to tell me why I've got a bunch of Maggia webbed up and an apartment building on fire?" George Stacy looked at Spider-Man, realizing that his tone was a little gruff.

Peter sighed again and retracted his mask. "Something's going on with the Maggia families. I think someone's trying to take out the lesser tier families. I followed Big Turk to a meeting with Carmen Nobili and...". Peter glanced around at the scene, "...this happened." He kinda wished Bobby was with him right now. George Stacy liked Bobby way more than he liked Peter. At least for the most part the New York Police Department appreciated what Spider-Man did for their city.

Officer Davis nodded. "The task force is saying the same thing, we just can't figure out who's making a move." Jefferson Davis had given up undercover work a long time ago but he was still involved with the gang unit. He had too much knowledge about the gangs not to be. "Did you get a look at who else besides Big Turk was involved?"

Peter nodded. "I didn't recognize him though. I'll see if I got a clear enough image of him and run it through facial recognition and bring you what I find. Who else besides the Fortunato's and the Nobili's have been targeted?"

Officer Davis studied Peter for a moment. He knew the kid was capable and only wanted what was best for the people of New York. When Peter has first revealed himself he remembered counting back in his head and realizing that Peter had only been about fourteen when he started out as Spider-Man. No fourteen year old should feel like they had to do the job of the police. As a father he had been angry that Stark had even allowed it. But then one of his buddies at work remembered working a case of man that had been shot and died in his nephew's arms. Connecting the dots, he realized that the police did need help. Spider-Man may be messy at times but no more so than the police were. "Frank Costa is missing. So far the rest of the family isn't saying much but they're also remarkably passive. The running theory is that they he was killed to send a message and the family opted to take whatever deal the responsible party offered."

Peter crossed his arms and looked between Officer Davis and Captain Stacy. "So four of the five Maggia families are out of play and we have no idea who's moving in?"

Captain Stacy nodded. "I'm not sure I would consider the Manfredi's to still be in the game. Their strength came out of respect rather than any actual power. If someone's moving in they're soon going to own all of New York's underworld." He looked pointedly at Peter. "Which is why you're going to bring us whatever you got on Big Turk and this new guy. The quicker we can figure out who is taking over the quicker we can stop stuff like this from happening." He glanced over at the apartment building still burning brightly. He saw a navy Audi pull up to the curb, well away from the emergency vehicles. "I think your ride is here." He looked back at Peter. "I'm not joking kid, I want you in my office tomorrow with what ever you have. I don't care how slim you think it is."

"Yes sir." He glanced over at the car and gave a final look back at Captain Stacy. "Tell Gwen I said hi!" Turning back to the car he jogged over to it and pulled open the passenger door and slid into the seat. "Dad...why are you driving my car?"

Tony waited for Peter to close the door before pulling away from the curb. "Because I don't sit still very well and I was driving MJ crazy." He glanced over at Peter. "Fill me in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I’m realizing as I post these stories that a lot happens in the time between the end of the other stories and the bleed through event in 2023. Peter’s identity reveal, more interaction with NYPD, an update on Gwen (she’s alive, haven’t decided if I’m going Spidey-Gwen). There’s a story in my head I just haven’t written it yet! ******


	22. Preparations

Michael quietly closed the door behind him. It had taken longer than he had wanted to return home but the Terran had made a mess of things. He wasn't sure he had ever seen so many flashing lights. He thought it was best to avoid as much of it as possible which meant he had to return on foot the long way. The ring allowed him to teleport great distances but it tended to leave signs of use, even just using it to traverse the short distance across the city. So he had backtracked on foot and walked around the site of the altercation.

He had been following Fisk for the last couple days but the man was never alone. He could have taken the ring at any time but he was more curious to observe first. The fight on Moord had been more challenging than he wanted to admit. He had assumed they would fall without much effort so he had toyed with them at first. Then he had been caught off guard by the Power Stone being taken by that child. Neither was a mistake he could make a second time. He had wanted to observe Fisk to see if he could be of use to him.

Seeing the ring in action had confirmed his belief in their power. The rings combined with his abilities would make him unstoppable. Not even Carina's father would be able to stop him. He and Carina could remake the universe as they wished. He slipped out of his clothes and pulled back the covers. Sliding next to Carina he could hear her soft, rhythmic breathing. At night she dropped the facade and he could see her pink skin illuminated from the moonlight coming through the window. Pulling the covers up over her, he stared up at the ceiling. Fisk could be useful but he was he type of man who wanted others to see him as powerful. Michael did not think that he would prove to be a reliable ally which meant he would take the ring from him when the time was right. Now, he was way more curious about a certain Spider. It was no coincidence that he kept encountering him. He had stayed in the shadows long enough to see him speak with the authorities. His face was younger than he would have thought but it didn't matter. He knew he was going to face them all again and he needed to do what ever it took to ensure that the outcome left Carina and himself on top.

xxxxxxxxxx

Peter ran up the stairs to the precinct that housed both Officer Davis and Captain Stacy. He had spent most of the night sifting through video of the incident. It was frustrating because all Karen had picked up had been the back of the large man. There had been a couple of half blocked shots of he mans' side but nothing that he could even begin to put through facial recognition. He had even checked the man's wrists and neck for tattoos that he might be able to trace and had come up empty. Pausing at the desk for the Sergeant on duty to wave him past he headed towards Captain Stacy's office.

Knocking on the door frame he waited until Captain Stacy looked up before speaking. "I wish I had better news." He crossed the distance to the captains' desk and held out a flash drive. "It's everything from last night...which isn't much."

George Stacy put down the report he was reading and stared at Peter before taking the flash drive. "Nothing?"

Peter shrugged and sat down in the chair in front of Captain Stacy's desk. "I never engaged him one on one. My cameras really only pick up what's in my line of sight. I also didn't catch how the apartment building went up so fast."

Stacy sighed. "I'll have our guys look at it anyway. Maybe someone will recognize him." He leaned back in his chair. "Are you patrolling tonight?"

Peter nodded. He knew a Spider-Man would be patrolling tonight, he just wasn't sure which one. "I want to know what's going on. Last night was messy. I'd like to avoid it happening again. The only way I know how to do that is to find out what's going on." Peter knew either he or Miles would be patrolling for the foreseeable future. He was just slightly worried he was going to have to head to the compound when Rocket showed up with the jump drive. The idea of leaving Miles patrolling on his own with everything going on didn't sit right. There were a couple people he could call to keep an eye on things as well but he wanted to talk to Miles about it first.

"Ok. Call earlier next time you run into trouble?" Stacy put his hand up when Peter started to protest. "It's why I let you donate all of the new vests. Let my guys do their job. They're a little more bulletproof now so let them help." As the bad guys got more technologically advanced, they had found that Kevlar just didn't keep up.

Peter pushed himself out of the chair. "So the gear is working out?"

George Stacy smiled, "NYPD is the only police department in the world that has Stark Tactical Gear. I don't mind saying it's made us the envy of a lot of departments around the country."

Peter smiled. He would gladly donate it to every department in the country but apparently there was some red tape surrounding what he could and couldn't give away. Luckily MJ had found a loop hole. By calling it beta testing, they were allowed to outfit the entire NYPD with new gear. It would roll out at an incredibly low price later on in the year and would only be available to police departments and the gear was tightly controlled. Peter thought they had put more time and effort into making sure it didn't fall into the hands of the bad guys than they did actually developing the material. "Good. I've had to wear Kevlar a couple times and I've hated it every time." Peter waved goodbye to the captain and headed back out. As he hit the sidewalk his phone rang. Before he could get a word out he was greeted by a gruff Australian voice.

"There is a really grumpy raccoon here that's pissed off that you're not here."

Peter laughed. "So Rocket showed up with the jump drive? I'm headed back to the tower. I'll head that way. Tell him I'll be there within an hour."

Davis looked over at the group standing in the hanger. "What am I supposed to do with them until you get here?"

"I don't know...get them something to eat? Dad headed that way earlier. If he's not there yet he will be shortly. He can get started on the Quinship." Peter darted between cars and headed towards the subway. "But watch Rocket. He tends to pick up unattended items."

xxxxxxxxxx

"I wish to meet the dragons."

Peter leaned out from under the Quinship and looked up at Drax with a look of confusion. "The what?"

"The Dragons."

"I told him there were no dragons on Earth." Quill looked over at MJ for confirmation. Lowering his voice he added, "Right? I mean it's been a while since I was here."

"Yeah, no dragons." MJ crossed her arms and frowned at Quill. Peter had been right, this group was an odd bunch. She had decided to come to the compound with Peter just so she could meet Rocket which meant she was now watching Peter, Tony, and Rocket work on the Quinship engines. She knew Peter and Tony well enough to know they'd both be covered in engine grease by the time they were done. They'd also find an excuse to keep working for hours. Tony was a born mechanic. Peter had always enjoyed building things. When you got the two of them building something together the chaotic genius was mind blowing.

Quill looked back at Drax. "I told you. Earth doesn't have dragons."

"But I did as I was instructed. I imagined them. Now I want to see them in person." Confusion turned into a frown as Drax looked over at Mantis.

Peter frowned, then it dawned on him what Drax was talking about. He looked down at Rocket. "Imagine Dragons?"

Rocket didn't shift his focus from the piece of the ship he was unscrewing. "Yeah...his people are very literal. I just ignore most of what comes out of his mouth."

Peter looked back over at Drax. "No dragons." He stopped talking when he saw Davis walk into the hanger. He had left as soon as Peter had gotten there. He felt his dad stiffen a little beside him. He had gotten the distinct impression that something was going on but so far he hadn't been able to find out.

Tony pushed himself up and walked across the room to Davis. "They found him?" The last piece of the puzzle was finding the Afghanistan cell. As soon as they were located all of the teams were going in.

"Tony, you don't have to go. I'll have backup." Davis crossed his arms knowing he was going to get push back. He glanced over Tony's shoulder at Peter. Thankfully he had been distracted by Rocket. He thought they were far enough away and there were enough other noises going on that Peter would have a problem hearing the conversation.

"He's not backup...he's a distraction". Tony thought through his options. The jump drive showing up now was bad timing. "When is everyone going to be in position?"

"Nat's scheduling their meeting now. My guess is you have about four hours to come up with a way to sneak out of the compound without Peter knowing what's going on." He looked back at Tony and met his eyes. "Or you could just tell him."

Tony growled. "Call in Fury. Someone will need to run ops from here. Make sure he knows Peter isn't getting involved."


	23. Ops

The Cajun voice stood out in the sea of Australian accents. "I'll see your $1,000 and raise you $2,000." He brushed the edge of his cards as he collapsed them in his hand, pushing the stack of chips towards the center. He had to keep reminding himself that he wasn't here to win. His job was solely to keep the man sitting across from him distracted. So far he had piqued his interest. He'd win this hand and then let his opponent win the next hand. If he had to guess, he'd say he'd need to play another couple rounds and then lose in spectacular fashion which would allow him to bow out. It was a simple plan.

"Mr. LeBeau, you certainly know how to keep things interesting." Warbeck Cameron leaned back and studied his opponent. He had been interesting to watch over the last week as he won and lost his way across Sydney's casinos. Giving a final glance at his cards he pushed a stack of chips forward. "Let's see if your hand is worth the amount sitting on the table." He thought it probably would be but it didn't bother him. He'd win the money back in another hand or two. The man sitting across from him seemed to enjoy playing even more so than winning. Plus, if it got too out of control, he could always just kill him.

xxxxxxxxxx

Peter glanced around the common area. They had prepared rooms for their galactic visitors when they returned, knowing that eventually they would be making an appearance. Carol and Sam had rooms ready as well. Peter could see their guests relaxed in various groups in the common area. What Peter didn't see was his dad, who has been missing since they had left the hanger to find something to eat. Slipping out of the room he headed down the hall towards ops. He triggered his suit before rounding the corner where he knew cameras would pick him up. Engaging stealth mode he disappeared before he came into view of the cameras outside ops.

The room was soundproof, even to him. He wasn't entirely sure how he was getting into the room until he spied Maria Hill walking down the hall. If Maria was here it meant Fury probably was too. And if both of them were running ops it meant that everybody was in the field...everyone but him. He slid through the door after Maria and jumped up to the ceiling. He settled in and finally had a moment to take in the screens. There were four main screens. He could see Nat in Wyatt's transmission feed. The Eiffel Tower was in the distance which meant the river they were by was the Seine. He looked at the screen next to it and saw Rhodey's and Sam's HUD on a split screen. The terrain was rocky. If he had to guess it was somewhere in the Middle East or Russia. The next screen had the name "Pryde" at the bottom corner. He has seen Xavier's interfaces enough that he recognized it. He could see Dr. Strange and Wong through her view. Based on the other sorcerers in the background he assumed they were in Hong Kong. He looked at the last screen and saw the familiar Iron Man viewpoint imagery on the screen. The surroundings didn't look familiar but Davis and Bobby were both with him.

He felt a set of eyes on him and looked down and saw an orange fluff ball staring at him. He had no idea where the cat came from but he definitely got the feeling that the cat could see him.

"You do realize Tony left strict instructions that you were to stay out of this."

Peter switched off the stealth mode and flipped off the ceiling. The orange cat wove himself around his legs. "How did you know I was here?"

Fury didn't move his eyes from the monitors. "Goose doesn't stare at random things. Besides our guests, you're the only one not out."

"Ok, so now that I'm here, fill me in on what's going on." Peter crossed his arms and tried not to smirk down at the purring cat that had jumped on the back of a chair and was head-butting him. He thought he detected a smile from Maria as she forced her attention on the screens. "Why are we running four simultaneous ops and why do they require so much fire power?" He left off the rest of the question...'and why wasn't he included'. He assumed it had to do with everyone's ridiculous belief that he needed a break.

Maria glanced away from the screen. "Because they're going after the Ten Rings." She saw a look of understanding pass across Peter's face which she thought just steeled his frustration.

"Turns out the Ten Rings originated off Earth and refer to ten actual rings that grant the user access to a power that is only slightly less dangerous than the Infinity Stones." Fury glanced over at Maria. He had actually been on Tony's side about leaving Peter out of it.

"Where are Wanda and Vision?" Peter scrutinized the screens and had a good idea who was in each group. He was a little surprised to see Dr. Banner with Sam and Rhodey. He assumed Bucky and Steve were there as well.

Maria swiveled her chair around. "Guarding Pepper and Morgan. Peter, that's how serious Tony takes this. You weren't there before. You don't know what he went through. Keeping you out of it is how he keeps you safe." She knew he was going to protest so she turned back around and pressed her hand against the earpiece. "Luc just pulled up."

"I can take care of myself." Peter muttered the response and watched the screen. A vehicle had just pulled up to Nat's position. "At least give me a headset."

Fury reached over and picked up a spare headset, handing it over his shoulder to Peter. "You are not running these ops. They're all in blackout mode so there's no two way communication. You are observing only."

Peter nodded and slipped the headset on, cycling through the channels to get a feel for everyone's position. He landed on his dad's channel last. He couldn't remember the last time he had heard his dad on an op without being at least in the vicinity of him.

_”FRIDAY, scan for security measures."_

Peter watched his dad and Davis clear a walkway overlooking a larger room. It looked like some kind of card game going on below but from the vantage point Peter had from the Iron Man view, it seemed like Davis and his dad were well hidden by the shadows. Peter thought his dad had retracted the suit while they were out in the open. Hot rod red didn't exactly scream covert and the stealth mode for the Iron Man suit still had enough kinks that Peter didn't think his dad would use it on an op yet.

Peter glanced over at the screens again when an explosion caught his eye. Rhodey and Sam apparently thought going in hot was the way to go. He left the audio on his dad but watched the screens as everything unfolded. The explosions caused by Rhodey and Sam were met with a significant amount of resistance. He caught sight of muzzle flashes on the ground and hoped at least some of them were coming from Bucky. He glanced through the other screens. So far there weren't as many fireworks going off get. Nat seemed to be talking to their target and the Hong Kong group were still waiting on something or someone. His eyes flicked back over to the screen showing the Iron Man HUD images that had switched to night vision. His dad and Davis had moved into a darkened room.

_”Where does he keep it?"_

_“In an ornate silver box about six inches wide."_

His attention was drawn back to the first screen when Maria tapped her headset and started typing on a keyboard. She pulled up satellite imagery of Afghanistan. Peter stared at the screen that had previously been lit up by explosions and gunfire. It had gone completely black.


	24. When Good Plans Go Bad

"What happened?" Peter demanded as he flipped the channel over to Rhodey's channel but only heard static.

"I don't know. Local base is picking up a strong electostatic pulse. Satellite isn't registering anything like an explosion. It's just dark." Maria pressed her hand against her headset. "Flip over to channel 12."

Peter cycled through the channels. As soon as he landed on 12 he heard a roar coming through the headset. "What was that?"

Fury shifted his attention to a different screen. "That was the Hulk. And that...". He pointed at a wall of water that was forming itself into a funnel. "...is a water spout forming in the middle of the Seine. I guess Luc's ring acts like the one they tested."

Peter watched Johnny flame up. The sprout changed into a wall that released a tremendous amount of steam as Johnny manipulated flames to combat the water that was attempting to flood the area around them. He could see Wyatt and Nat moving on their target so he didn't have quite as much concern about them as he did the other. He glanced back at the screen that had been pitch black. Daylight was starting to peer through. He flipped back over to Rhodey's channel and was relieved to hear his voice. He seems a little tense but at least he was talking.

Lightning flashed on another screen which drew his attention to Kitty's feed. His eyes darted subconsciously over to his dad's screen which still showed them in the darkened room. He flipped through the channels hearing the sounds of engagement on each channel until he landed on the quiet of the last one.

_”What do you mean it's not here."_

_”I mean it was always in his desk and it's not here now. The box is here but the ring is gone."_

_"I think I know where it is. Remy, is Cameron wearing a ring on his right hand?"_

_"Damn."_

Peter had recognized Bobby's voice on his dad's audio feed. He had only heard the Cajun voice a handful of times but knew who he was. He turned his full attention to his dad's feed. He could tell they were making their way out of the darkened room back to the balcony. The image from his dad's feed changed slightly which told Peter he had triggered the Iron Man armor. Knowing nothing about the situation other than what was in front of him he guessed that meant his dad knew it was going to get messy. He had a line of sight to the card table below and the people in the room and as Peter checked down on the targets he could see he knew his dad and Davis were doing the same thing.

Bobby had already moved down to the room below. He could blend in since he wasn't in his ice form yet. Peter shifted his attention back to the card table. After hearing his voice he knew the man sitting across from the older man was Remy LeBeau and he knew what he could do.

He could hear Maria and Fury coordinating between the teams and local bases but it was just background noise. His focus was solely on what was unfolding in front of him. Through the Iron Man view point he could see Remy tapping the cards in his hands. He had seen the damage a single playing card could do in his hands and he currently held five of them. The movement was quick. The cards flew out of Remy's hands, striking the men surrounding the table. The accompanying explosions brightened the view momentarily. The familiar sound of repulsors firing partnered with the destruction on the screen. They were doing a good job of clearing the room. The innocent bystanders had fled after the first explosion, those remaining engaged immediately.

Watching the scene unfold through just the Iron Man feed was challenging. There just wasn't enough input. Peter couldn't tell where everyone was or what they were doing. His frustration mounted as he tried to find the target. He was so focused he missed the temperature readings that started dropping quickly. It wasn't until the reading started flashing that he paid attention. He was conditioned to pay attention. He had the same interface in his HUD and it flashed an angry red when the temperature dropped below his threshold. Spiders and cold didn't go together and he had learned that lesson the hard way...multiple times. So when the temperature reading flashed his eyes focused on the number that was still dropping. "What power does this ring have?" The Iron Man suit could take a decent amount of cold but there was a limit.

Phone against his ear, Maria looked up at the screen and frowned. "Temperature manipulation."

Peter tensed as he watched the temperature continue to drop. He could tell the suit had reached its limits. An ice wall formed and blocked everything from his view. Communications had been cut off as the suit shut down having been exposed to temperatures way beyond its threshold. Panic quickly replaced the tension and frustration and he flipped to other channels trying to find Bobby or Davis.

"Davis...he's dead..."

Peter felt like he was underwater. He could hear the muted voices of Fury and Maria coordinating the teams. He could hear the almost frantic purr of the cat. It had the sound of concern and he could feel it rubbing against his arm. He stared at he screen, his mind trying to reconcile what was happening. Someone was dead. He thought there were probably more than a few someone's that were dead. For the first time in his life he realized he didn't care who else was dead. He just needed to know how his dad was.

"Davis...we have to go...we need to get Tony back to the compound. Now."

The ice wall had retreated and the Iron Man viewpoint shifted. Peter was shocked the video was still transmitting. The view shifted and Peter realized Bobby had thrown Iron Man over his shoulder. Through skewed viewpoint he saw Davis form a portal. Pulling the headset off he threw it on the desk and pulled the door open. If his dad was...Peter's mind forced the word 'hurt' to the front...there was only one place they would go. He raced down the hall towards the stairwell and ran up the flight of stairs, jerking the door open to see a portal closing behind Davis as Bobby pulled Iron Man off his shoulder and onto a gurney.

He skidded to a stop next to Dr. Cho as she tapped the nanohousing. After the second attempt, Peter tried. "FRIDAY, release dad's suit."

"The Iron Man suit is currently in lockdown mode. Please provide the passcode for release."

"Tonyisalwaysright"

"Sorry, incorrect passcode."

Panic seeped through Peter. "FRIDAY, what day is it?

"March 16, 2017."

Peter looked over at Dr. Cho, ignoring the bewilderment on her face. "What was going on in Spring of 2017?" The words poured out of his mouth as he wracked his brain. He looked back at the suit laying motionless before him and pulled on the mask. "What was going on in 2017?"

Dr. Cho shook her head. "I don't know...I treated you for the first time in 2016. You had that run in with the Skrulls and Kree. Tony made peace with Steve and the others..."

Peter looked up at her, pieces starting to click into place. "FRIDAY, unlock the Iron Man suit. Passcode Hole-In-One."

The suit started to melt back into the nanohousing, revealing its owner unconscious and ashen. Dr. Cho started moving immediately, ripping his t-shirt and placing a monitor on his chest. Satisfied the monitor was transmitting, she nodded to her team. She looked over Peter's shoulder. "Keep him here." She gave Peter a final look and followed her patient through the MedBay doors.

Peter propelled himself forward only to be held back. He could feel ice on his shoulders and knew Bobby had iced up in anticipation of having to fight to keep him there. "I have to see how he is!"

Davis moved into his line of sight. "He's alive. The monitors picked up a heartbeat. Let Dr. Cho work."


	25. Helpless

Peter shoved Bobby's hand off his shoulder as he rounded to face him. "You should have told me." The frustration he had felt since he had been sidelined culminated in an eruption Peter wasn't able to stop.

"It wasn't ours to tell." Voice calmer, Bobby didn't move from his position. "Tony didn't want you near it. It's the only way he could protect you." Bobby had sparred enough with Peter over the years that he knew that even if Peter hit him at full strength he wouldn't do any permanent damage. He didn't think it would come to that but he also had never seen Peter this mad.

"I don't need protecting." Peter knew he was yelling but he didn't care. "You should have told me. Do you have any idea what it was like watching all of that and not be able to do a damn thing about it?" Peter sucked in a breath. He knew he was out of control but he couldn't stop. "And now...". Peter turned and looked over at the door his dad had disappeared through. He hadn't felt this helpless since Ben had died. Slamming his fist into the wall next to the door, he stared at the wall for a moment before turning to look back at Bobby. "You should have told me." Before he could continue an orange portal formed in the hallway.

A very drenched Johnny, Wyatt, and Nat stepped through. All three of them immediately knew something was wrong. "Peter?" Natasha hadn't missed Peter's clinched fists or the hole in the wall or the apprehensive look on Remy's face or the fact that Bobby was still iced up. She purposely strode forward and placed herself in between Peter and Bobby. "Peter...look at me."

Peter forced his eyes away from Bobby and looked at Natasha. "I'm pissed at you too...you should have told me." His tone was softer than it had been. He was starting to burn out rapidly.

Davis cleared his throat. "He had the ring on and he iced Tony's armor. Dr. Cho is working on him." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring and held it out to Natasha. Dropping it in her hand, he looked over at Peter. "I'm sorry. We thought we could get it and get out without a confrontation."

Peter hadn't taken his eyes off of Natasha. "What the hell Nat...all of this for some rings?"

She slid her hand in her pocket and pulled a ring out. "All of this to eradicate the Ten Rings. It's alien tech." She leaned forward and put her hand on the back of Peter's neck and pulled him forward. "Peter...focus...don't jump to conclusions. Wait on Dr. Cho. Do you understand." She waited for Peter to nod before forcing a reassuring smile. Ruffling his hair she let go of him and looked back at Bobby. "Are we the only ones back so far?"

Remy spoke up. "Why don't I check with Fury and see where everyone is." He turned to head out of the medical wing and towards ops. He very much felt like he was an intruder in a family squabble.

Natasha waited for the doors to close behind him before looking back at the group of boys. She quickly gave each of them a once over to make sure there weren't any signs of injury. Davis had sunk down into a chair with his elbows on his knees. Bobby had returned to his normal form. Wyatt was staring between Davis and Peter, debating as to which one looked worse. Johnny walked towards Peter and nudged him with his shoulder. "Come on. Let's go for a walk."

Peter gave one last look at the door his dad had disappeared through before allowing Johnny to push him into the hallway.

xxxxxxxxxx

Remy stepped into ops and shut the door behind him. "Natasha's back. She's got their ring. How are the other teams doing?"

Maria looked over at him and pulled the phone away from her ear. "The leader of the Triad got away. They're looking. I'm trying to get an update on Afghanistan."

Remy crossed his arms and watched Fury and Maria. He got the distinct impression that none of the ops had gone according to plan. "Anyone else hurt?"

"A couple of injuries from the Hong Kong team. They're handling it there." Maria pulled the phone down. "How's Tony?"

Remy shrugged. "Dr. Cho has him."

Fury hung up his phone. "Anyone else besides Davis capable of portaling?"

Remy shook his head. "And I don't think Davis is up for it right now." Remy decided to leave off the part about it being entirely possible that they were all upstairs fighting. "Who needs to get somewhere?"

Maria looked at Fury. She could tell when he was planning something she was going to find questionable. "What are you thinking?"

"The cave system in Afghanistan collapsed. Wilson got hit so they're in the process of evac'ing him and Rhodes. There's only so much a Hulk and two super soldiers can do." Fury looked over at Remy. "Go to the common area and get me either the raccoon or a guy named Quill."

"I'm sorry...did you say raccoon?" Remy stared at Fury. "Ok, you know what, I'll figure it out." Ever since hooking up with Xavier he had met a multitude of not quite human individuals. Why not add a raccoon to the mix.

xxxxxxxxxx

Johnny looked at Peter who was currently leaning against the wall looking down at his feet. "What happened?"

Peter looked up. "Hell if I know. All I could see was the Iron Man feed. Davis said something about the suit getting iced." He rubbed his hand across his face. "The temperature got really low. He was unconscious by the time we got the suit off."

"Dr. Cho is the best there is. She knows Tony's physiology better than anyone else. Plus she has the best equipment in the world. She will do whatever she has to...you've gotta believe that." Johnny looked at Peter. He couldn't imagine how Peter was feeling. He had learned early on Peter did not like feeling helpless which is exactly what he was right now and there wasn't anything anyone could do to change it.

None of them had pushed back when Tony said Peter couldn't be involved. In retrospect Johnny realized they should have. "We should have told you. I could give you a million reasons why we thought it was the right thing to do and every one of those reasons would be wrong." Johnny waited for Peter to look up at him. "We should have told you."

Peter looked at Johnny. "Damn right you should have told me." Peter let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding. "I need to know how he's doing." He wasn't sure if he was telling Johnny or himself.

"Can't FRIDAY give you an update?"

Peter frowned. "FRIDAY is so messed up. She thinks it's 2017. I didn't have any kind of clearance in 2017. And I don't think I can fix her right now."

"Why does she think it's 2017?" Johnny subconsciously looked up at the ceiling before looking back at Peter.

"Trying to merge the two FRIDAYs together didn't go smoothly. She had almost three months of duplicate dates she had to combine after we got back." Peter frowned. They had looked at FRIDAY's programming after the protocol issue during the apartment fire. One of the broken pieces went all the way back to his senior year of high school. "When I snuck out in high school to trap Osborn I messed with her date." He smirked at the look on Johnny's face. "We didn't think it was that big of a deal but when she tried to merge the dates from the mission everything date related got corrupted."

Johnny shook his head. "You hacked FRIDAY in high school?"

Peter shrugged. "I was highly motivated." Peter took another deep breath and looked up at Johnny. "What am I going to do if he's not ok."

"The first thing you're not going to do is jump to conclusions." Johnny nodded his head towards the door to the MedBay. "Let's see if Nat can find anything out."


	26. Help Needed

"Ok. Say it again." MJ leaned forward to concentrate.

"I am Groot."

MJ pursed her lips deep in thought. "Now say the other one."

"I am Groot."

She looked over at Rocket. "I can hear a difference but I still have no idea what he's saying."

Rocket leaned over a placed a device behind her ear. "Ok, Groot. Say the first one again."

"I am Groot."

MJ jerked back. "That's amazing." She looked at Groot. "Yes, human babies are like saplings."

"I am Groot." Groot gestured towards the door.

MJ looked over. "I don't know. I'm not sure if I've seen him before." She sat back and watched the man pause at the door.

Remy froze at the entrance of the common area and stared at its occupants. There was indeed a raccoon. And a tree. Taking a deep breath he walked over to them. "Fury sent me to find either some guy named Quill or 'the raccoon'"

MJ frowned. She knew Peter had disappeared and just figured he and Tony got wrapped up in something. If Fury was here it meant there was more going on. She gestured to Rocket. "His name is Rocket."

Quill, hearing his name had moved over. "Who's Fury?"

"Former head of SHEILD, currently running SWORD. Can both of you come with me?" Remy knew he probably should explain a little better but he barely knew what was going on plus he wasn't sure who was supposed to know what's going on.

"ILYA, can you ask Karen or FRIDAY what's going on?"

Remy, Quill, and Rocket stared at MJ until her watch started talking. "You have an AI too?" Rocket shook his head. "Now I have to get one."

"Director Fury needs our guests to assist Captain Rogers." ILYA paused before continuing. "MJ, Peter is currently outside of MedBay. Karen has indicated that you might want to check on him."

MJ frowned. "Is he hurt?" She pushed herself out of her chair.

"No."

MJ looked over at Remy. "What's going on."

"Look, I barely know myself." He looked over at Rocket and Quill. "Will you please come with me to see Fury?"

The trio left the common area with MJ trailing behind them. Quill watched her split from their group and head to the elevator. He wondered what Peter was doing in MedBay but figured it would have to wait. "Why does Fury want to see us?"

"I honestly have no idea." Remy pushed open the door to let Rocket and Quill into ops. He frowned down at Rocket when he froze at the door.

"Why in the hell is there a Flerken here?" Rocket stared down at orange creature that had jumped down off of the table to check out the visitors.

Quill looked down as it rubbed against his legs. "He looks friendlier than the one we encountered on Arago-7."

"Don't let him fool you." Fury turned around and looked at their guests. He pointed to a screen. "Does your ship have anything that can help clear this?" He pointed to the rocks that had collapsed, covering the entrance to the cave system. The Hulk was currently throwing boulders but wasn't making a dent in the debris.

Rocket climbed on the desk to get a better look, carefully avoiding the Flerken. "Anything important on the inside that needs saving?"

"They were retrieving some alien tech. It's small enough that it can probably survive." Fury crossed his arms and looked at Rocket and Quill. "Can you do it?"

Rocket shrugged. "Probably. Do we get to keep whatever's inside?"

"No."

Quill looked at the image. He thought he could see Steve assisting the green creature. "You don't have anything you can use?" He had seen some of their fire power. He would have thought Tony could have taken care of this easily.

"All of the options that could have taken care of this are otherwise occupied." Fury had already gone through his options. The War Machine armor was severely damaged. Tony was unconscious in MedBay. They had pulled up the SWORD defense system but since it was mainly designed to thwart attacks, it was bound to do way more damage than they needed. Fury didn't think the neighboring villages 100 miles away would appreciate being obliterated. He knew Tony had drones but from what he knew of them he didn't think they'd be able to accomplish what he hoped Quill could. All he needed was for them to pulverize the stones in the cave so they could get to the ring.

Natasha walked into the room and slid behind Quill and Rocket. She took in the screens that currently just showed a still view of the site. She could see a very battered Steve, Bucky, and the Hulk. The view looked like it was coming from one of the cameras from a Quinjet. She leaned on the desk next to Maria. "Status?"

Natasha took the table that Maria offered her and tapped the screen to pull up each teams' status report. Sam and Rhodey had been evacuated. Rhodey wasn't hurt, he just had non-functioning armor at this point and had opted to go with Sam. Sam was another story all together. He had been hit in the side and then his wings had been hit with a weapon of "undetermined origin". The Hulk had stopped his free fall. The same weapon had caused the cave system to collapse with the bearer of the ring inside. Now they just needed something to pulverize the mountain and allow them to use the tracking device to locate the ring.

The Hong Kong operation had caused a complete power grid loss and on top of it, they had lost their target. Casualty reports were still coming in. Natasha put the tablet down and looked at Quill. "Let's go. We'll plan on the way." She looked over at Remy. "Escort the rest of their crew to the hanger. We'll meet you there."

Rocket crossed his arm. "You know, ever since meeting you people we keep doing things for you and no one ever pays us."

Natasha smiled. "I'm fairly certain you negotiated a better price for the jump drive." She put her hand up when Quill started to protest. "Which we assumed you would. What do you want for this?"

"I want an AI. Your ship has one, Peter has one. Even MJ has one."

Quill looked at Rocket in disbelief. An AI was so far down on his list of "things to ask for".

"Done. Let's go." Natasha slipped her hand in her pocket and pulled out the two rings. She dropped them in Fury's hand and walked out of ops smirking. She'd figure out how to get them an AI later.


	27. Drowning

Peter slid into the chair next to Davis. Leaning back he closed his eyes and hit his head against the wall. Nat had been able to find out that Tony was alive but not out of danger. The extreme drop in temperature had caused a "cardiac incident". Peter had spent the years expecting some kind of heart issue. There was only so much the Extremis formula they had used could do about the damage that had been caused by not only the shrapnel but also the arc reactor. Peter knew that Pepper held a tight rein over his dad's diet but all that did was make sure there weren't any additional problems. He didn't even know what a "cardiac incident" was. Nat didn't think it was a full blown heart attack. But she also didn't have any additional information. Just that he would be in Dr. Cho's way if he went back there. After she was sure Peter would stay put she had left them to headed to ops.

"I'm sorry."

Peter opened his eyes and looked over at Davis. He really hadn't noticed how bad Davis looked before. "It's not your fault."

"It is. He went because he didn't want me to face my father alone." Davis looked over at Peter. He started to continued but he realized he had no idea what to say so instead he looked down at the floor.

"Why? I don't understand why these rings caused all of this. Why go after them?" Peter looked at his team. His team that had run ops without him. He wasn't over it yet. He'd get there eventually but right now he was still mad. Not punch a wall mad like before, but still not happy about it.

Wyatt looked up at Peter. He had gotten tired of pacing and had knelt down with his back against the wall. "I think the thought was we might be able to use them against our glowing friend. We all know that confrontation is coming. It's just a matter of time." He stood up and looked over at Johnny. "You two were in the middle of the fight. I was watching from the sidelines. I'm not sure you truly appreciate how close we were to losing."

Peter leaned back against the wall again. He could understand the desire for weapons to fight against the "glowing guy"...who seriously needed a nickname. He also knew the Ten Rings was more personal for his dad. If there was a chance to eradicate them, he'd take it. For the most part, Peter knew he had been shielded from the reality of what had happened before. He didn't know anything more about Afghanistan than anyone who had read an article about the origins of Iron Man. And he knew those reports only told a fraction of the real story. It dawned on Peter in that moment that he would never know what his dad had gone through. The vision their enemy had given them on Moord was as close as he would ever come. He also realized that no one knew what Ben's death had been like. He and his dad had talked about it, some, but it had really only scratched the surface of what it had actually been like. The weight of that realization made him feel like he was drowning. Looking back at Davis he focused on the target of their mission. "So how did you get the ring from your father?"

Bobby stiffened. He didn't think of them had really processed what had happened. He wasn't sure if Davis could talk about it right now. "Remy did a good job of taking out most of his support. We had seen video of when Tony, Dr. Strange, and Rhodey tested the ring they have so we knew it was a weapon but I don't think we really understood how powerful they are." He looked over at Davis. "Even though Tony keep trying to drill it into us." He looked back at Peter. "This ring in particular manipulated temperature. I think I was expecting more of what I do. It wasn't."

Davis leaned forward, still staring at the floor. "He figured out quickly that Tony was his biggest threat. The ring has the ability to almost narrow beam target temperature. He completely iced the suit."

Peter shook his head. "The suit is rated for short term EVO. For it to cause a problem it would have had to exceed something like negative 500 degrees." Peter thought through the suits' designs. He didn't think even rapid temperature changes should have been enough to cause the problems it did.

"It might have been even colder than that. I was the only one that could touch him. I warmed him up as much as I could on the way back." Bobby unconsciously rubbed his shoulder where the Iron Man armor had been in contact with his ice form. He went pretty cold on a regular basis. The suit had been so far past that.

Johnny looked at Davis. "How'd you stop him." He had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer. He also knew Davis would be ok. They'd all make sure of it.

Davis sucked in a breath. "I opened a portal and held him in it."

Peter looked over at Davis. "A portal to where?"

"The ocean." Davis leaned back, preparing for his life to be splayed open in front of those closest to him. "Same way he killed Heather." He looked up at the faces of his team mates and saw compassion. He hadn't talked about his sister much. They just knew she was dead. "Heather was an excellent swimmer. Spent every moment she could in the water. As soon as she was old enough she got her lifeguard certification and worked after school and during the summer at the beach. After our mother was killed, both of us reacted differently. My escape was alcohol and drugs." He looked over at Bobby. He thought Bobby was probably the only one who would understand. "It's how my powers triggered." He looked down again. "Heather pushed back. She believed from the beginning that he was responsible and confronted him every chance she got." He unconsciously leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees, feeling the weight of the tragedies in his life crushing him. "I don't know if he just got tired of it or if she said the wrong thing to the wrong person. One of his enforcers told me what happened. I think he was trying to scare me into cooperating." He took another deep breath. "My father handcuffed her, forced her into a boat, and dumped her in the water a couple miles off shore." He looked at his friends gauging their response. He still saw compassion on their faces even after admitting that he had killed his father.

Wyatt spoke first. "Your father deserved what he got." He knew Peter had always tried to hold himself and the rest of the team to a higher standard. Wyatt didn't have that same stance. Some people just deserved to die.

Davis chuckled. "That's the thing. I didn't go on the mission to kill him. I wanted to show him that despite all of the things he had done, I was doing something good." He looked over at Peter. "Then he targeted Tony and something inside me snapped." He looked back at Bobby, Wyatt, and Johnny. "Before, the only real family I had was Heather. Even when my mom was alive she sided with my father in an attempt to just stay alive. This team and by extension the others are more of a family to me than anyone related by blood ever has been. Tony dying wasn't an option. I just wish I had gotten to him sooner."

Bobby nodded, "I think we all feel that way. This team as well as the other teams are more of a family to me than my parents are. There's a lot that I would do to protect all of them, but especially you four." He knew relied on Tony, Sam, Bucky, Steve, and Rhodey for advice and knew the other did as well. He would do a lot to protect them but he would do more to more to protect his teammates.

"Yeah, well maybe next time you'll remember that and you won't leave me behind." Peter knew it came out gruffer than he intended. "Davis, what you did probably saved dad's life. I wish you hadn't had to do it but...". Peter trailed off, remembering a conversation he and his dad had sitting on a bench on Coney Island. He had known that night that if it came down to it, he wouldn't hesitate to kill to protect his dad. He'd look for other options but in the absence of options, he knew what he would do. It had been a hard thought to process but it was always there in the pit of his stomach. Part of him hated the person he had become because the list of people he would kill to protect had grown significantly. He'd go to the same lengths to protect his teammates because Davis and Bobby were right...they were the family he never had. All he had for so long was May. Then he met Tony and his family had grown by leaps and bounds. He'd go to great lengths to protect them all. MJ and his unborn son...he knew without a doubt he'd do whatever it took. He looked back at Davis. "...but I'm glad you were there."

Peter scrubbed his hand over his face. He thought they all probably needed several hours of therapy. Davis might not be ok right now but he would be. He glanced over as the doors to the corridor pushed open.

MJ walked through the door and immediately knew the five of them weren't ok. "What happened?"

All five turned to look at MJ, then the four looked back at Peter. "Dad got hurt on a mission." Peter wasn't sure how MJ had know something was wrong. Of course, through the entirety of their relationship, she always seemed to have her own Spider-Sense, only it centered on Peter being hurt. It didn't matter if it was emotional or physical. She just always knew.

MJ stopped by the small refrigerator and pulled out a Gatorade. Walking towards Peter she handed it to Davis as she sat down next to Peter. "What has Dr. Cho told you?"

"Nothing! That's the problem. She won't let me back there." Peter crossed his arms in a definite pout. "Something about a cardiac incident."

MJ looked at Peter. She had noticed the hole in the wall on the way in. It was too low to be Johnny or Wyatt. At 6'2" and 6'4" respectively, if they had hit a wall it would have been higher. She couldn't, in any situation, see Bobby taking his frustration out on a wall and Davis looked like he could barely lift his head much less put a hole in a wall. Which left Peter. She reached over and forced her hand into his. "Did you call Pepper yet?"

Peter shook his head. "And tell her what? If I tell her I have no idea she'll freak out even more." Peter blew out a breath and let his arms drop to hold MJ's hand.

MJ nodded. "Ok. We'll give it five more minutes and I'll go back there."

Peter looked at her like she had grown a second head. "If she won't let us back..."

MJ squeezed his hand. "You will be pacing the ceiling and demanding answers that she probably can't give yet. I can get a status update." She looked at the other four. "What's wrong with the rest of you?"

Wyatt shrugged. "Nothing. Except we kept Peter out of the loop and now we feel bad."

MJ frowned. Wyatt and Johnny looked like they had been swimming, Davis looked worn out, and Bobby just looked worried. "Are you sure none of your are hurt?"

Bobby nodded. "When everyone was gone Dr. Cho upgraded the transponders so they report directly to her any injuries that need attention."

MJ laughed. "I'm surprised it took her that long. She should have done it a long time ago." She looked over at Davis. "Are you sure you're ok?"

Davis shrugged. "Too many portals and a rough mission. I'll be fine." He gave her a reassuring smile.

Peter stood up abruptly and looked at the doors to MedBay. Everyone turned to look. They knew Peter had heard something. Thirty seconds later Dr. Cho pushed the doors open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally had Davis having an actual verbal conversation with his father but when I shifted the point of view of the different missions to Peter, the ability to do any exposition went away. When I brought Davis into the mix it was because I needed a way to get them from Boston to New York quickly. Oddly enough there are not that many Marvel characters that can form wormholes or teleport - at least not ones that can fit into a college story. I stumbled across Davis and he seemed to fit in with the other four. In the Marvel storyline he and his sister don't know who their father is until after he dies and they both turn out to be half alien...yeah...I not going there. I changed their backstory to fit this story a little bit better. A piece that I did pull out was Davis's father drowning. He died like that in the Marvel storyline...in a completely dry room. It was another mutant that did it, not Davis, but I thought it fit with the backstory I was weaving.
> 
> Peter...Spider-Man has always been the superhero that didn't kill. Way before I started writing these stories, I read a story that had Peter being sold to Hydra after being kidnapped by Justin Hammer and turned into an assassin. Tony, of course, goes after him, it gets messy, but at the end it turns out that Peter was being blackmailed. They had a bomb in Tony's lab and threatened to set it off if he didn't do what they wanted. There was a phenomenal line from Peter that went something like 'I always wondered what my breaking point would be...what would make me kill. It turns out it was you." It’s a thought that has always stuck with me...everyone has a breaking point. What is Peter's? In the world of IronDad - SpiderSon it's definitely Tony. In my little AU world I think it's MJ and his unborn son. I also think it's the rest of his team as well.
> 
> A fun fact...Karen and MJ have never let Peter know that they talk to each other. MJ's "spider-sense" is all Karen telling her when Peter is hurt or having a problem which goes back to when MJ and Peter first got together.


	28. Realizations

Natasha leaned over Quill's seat and looked out the front viewport. "What's the chance this works on the first try?"

Quill shrugged and focused on maneuvering the ship into position. "88%". He glanced over at Rocket, who was prepping the thrusters. The general consensus was that the thrusters would provide enough force to crush the rocks. Then it would just be a matter of sifting through the debris until they found the ring.

Rocket laughed. "Which means there's a 12% chance that we'll create a dust cloud so large that it'll block out the sun and all life on Earth will die out." Slapping his hand down on a button, the engines fired beneath them.

Natasha moved to look at the video feed from the QuinJet. It was hovering over the cave system providing a view of the rocks. Right now, all Natasha could see was dust. "Steve, can you tell if it's working?" She felt the thrusters disengage and turned back to the front. All she could see was a dust cloud until it started settling. "I didn't think it would settle this fast."

Rocket shrugged. "I used the fire suppression system. I thought it was worth a shot."

Natasha grinned. She could see a pile of much smaller rocks in place fo the giant boulders. "Steve?"

"We've got it. Who wants to go play in the rocks to dig it out?"

"I am Groot."

Natasha smiled. Even without knowing what he said, she thought he knew what he had in mind. "Land. I think Groot has an idea."

xxxxxxxxxx

Steve stood next to Groot, watching him snake his branch through the rubble. They both had their eyes on a screen showing the position of Groot's branch and the ring. He let out the breath he had been unintentionally holding when the two signals met and the transponder fastened around Groot started retreating. He looked over as Bucky stopped next to him.

"Sam's out of surgery. Rhodey said the doctors think he'll make a full recovery. Once he can travel they'll bring him to the compound and Dr. Cho can use the cradle device to speed up the repair." Bucky watched as Groot's arm retreated from the rubble.

"Good. It looks like we're almost done here." Steve watched Rocket's eyes follow the ring Groot was holding.

"I am Groot." Groot dropped the ring into Steve's outstretched hand.

"Thanks, Groot." Steve looked around at the group. He was glad Quill had shown up when he had. Natasha had mentioned needing to convince Tony of something she had promised to Rocket. Other than that, the mission had turned itself around and had been successful. Sam would be ok and they had retrieved the ring. He looked over at Natasha. "Three our of four isn't that bad."

Natasha shrugged. "They're still tracking the Triad leader, but I'm not holding my breath. I think he's left Hong Kong." She glanced over at at the Hulk. "Any chance he'll change back to Banner?" The Hulk had been on the QuinJet before but it wasn't the best option.

Bucky shook his head. "I don't know. I think the only reason he changed was to catch Sam. I would have thought he would have changed back by now." He looked over at the Hulk who was standing back from the group. He realized they weren't the only one watching him. The lady with the antenna was as well.

Mantis tilted her head and looked at the large creature in front of her. She could feel it's anger without even touching him, but just below the anger was frustration and sadness. It was those emotions that made her curious. She could feel his strength and knew he would be just as much of a challenge as Ego had been. She took a reserved step forward and then another, finally reaching her hand out and touching his. The anger almost overpowered her. Fighting through it, she searched for the frustration and sadness until she located it. She could hear the grunts coming from the creature but it was background noise to her as she listened to the creature's emotions. "You are sad that he wants you to remain hidden."

Natasha watched Mantis and Hulk. She knew from experience that if you could connect with the Hulk on a personal level he would calm down enough for Banner to regain control. It was interesting to watch someone else do it. She knew Mantis was an empath but didn't quite know what that meant. She knew an empath felt emotions but as far as what Mantis did with it was beyond her.

Mantis thought the grunts were lessening and the anger was receding. It was still there but it was being covered by the sadness and frustration but also fear. She closed her eyes and pushed the anger further down. It wasn't gone and she knew it would never be gone, but she focused on the fear that was replacing it. "You fear losing control." Opening her eyes she realized the large green monster had been replaced by a much smaller man. "You fear losing yourself."

Bruce sucked in a breath and pulled the tattered shirt around him. "What did you do?"

Quill stepped forward and handed him a blanket. "She reads people and can control their emotions. It can be quite embarrassing at times." He eyed the man as he tightened the blanket around him. "What are you?"

"Gamma radiation." It was all Bruce could manage at the moment. He felt unsettled. He always felt out of sorts after changing but this was something more. He could feel the Hulk's frustration and sadness. It wasn't something he had ever felt before. A realization struck him. As much as he feared losing himself, the Hulk had that same fear. Bruce realized for the first time that they both wanted the same thing. A chance to live and all that living implied. It was unsettling. "I'll be on the QuinJet." He wasn't sure who he had mumbled that too. All he knew was that he needed to think.

xxxxxxxxxx

Dr. Cho eyed the group clustered in the room. Her eyes landed on Peter. He had surged from his seat even before she had opened the door. She thought if it hadn't been for MJ's firm hold on his hand, he probably would have already scrambled past her. "He's out of danger and resting comfortably. I have him lightly sedated but he should wake up in another hour or so." She heard a collective sigh of relief. "Peter, you can come back now." She looked at the rest of his team. "Just Peter and MJ. The rest of you get something to eat or something." She held the door open for Peter and MJ and have a final look back at the four boys as the door closed.

"What happened?" Peter tightened his fingers around MJ's hand as the slowed to walk next to Dr. Cho.

"The drop in temperature caused his body to go into overload. His heart has enough damage that it couldn't handle the strain." Dr. Cho looked over at Peter. "On a good day his heart is probably only functioning at about 40 percent. He's got a pacemaker of sorts that helps it along when needed but the temperature was so cold that nothing was working." She could see panic sweeping across Peter's face. "Peter, hear me clearly. He's stabilized. He will be as good as Tony gets. He's sedated to give his heart a little bit of a break. When he wakes up, he'll be okay." She paused in front of the door and looked at MJ. "Do you want to call Pepper or do you want me to."

MJ looked at Peter. He was having more trouble with this than she thought he would. "Can you call her? It'll probably be more reassuring coming from you."

Dr. Cho nodded and left the couple standing by the door. Based on Peter's reaction she thought Tony had probably downplayed all of his heart issues. She hoped Pepper wasn't as in the dark as Peter had been.

Peter took a deep breath and pushed open the door. He thought he was prepared but he wasn't. His eyes started taking on various things. The monitors on the wall showing a heart rate, oxygen, a bunch of other numbers he couldn't quite process. There was a chair next to the bed. He thought back to the times he had woken up in a room in MedBay. His dad has always been firmly planted in the chair next to his bed. His eyes moved over to the bed. The sheets were a crisp white. It was a contrast to sheets he had woken up covered in multiple times. Iron Man sheets had shown up at one point. Captain America sheets had shown up a couple weeks later. It was months before Spider-Man sheets had made there way in. But these sheets were none of those. These were pale, as pale as the figure lying on them.

MJ put her hand on Peter's back. "It's ok. Dr. Cho said he'll recover."

Peter sucked in a breath and took a hesitant step into the room, enough for MJ to allow the door to close behind them. "I didn't know his heart problems were this bad. 40 percent doesn't sound good."

MJ walked closer to the bed hoping Peter would follow. "It's not great but it doesn't mean he's dying. Believe it or not, in a regular human normal heart function is only something like 55-75 percent." She smiled at the look on Peter's face. "You really didn't pay attention in biology, did you." She almost laughed at the eye roll she got in response. "Of course yours is something like 98 percent." She had actually been curious about Peter's physiology and had asked Dr. Cho about it one time. Everything about Peter functioned at almost 100 percent efficiency. She looked back at Tony. She was a little surprised his heart functioned as well as it did. She squeezed Peter's hand. "He'll be ok."

Peter shook his head. "I could have lost him. I'm not ready for that." He focused on his dad’s heartbeat. The unique sound had always been comforting to him. Now, it just reminded him that his dad's heart was damaged and that it could eventually kill him. "He can't put on the suit again." He knew he was thinking in absolutes in an attempt to maintain the status quo. Guilt swooped in on him as the thought formed in his head. His dad continued to put on the suit to make sure Peter was safe. He had told him years ago that he would do whatever it took to make sure Peter remained safe. Which meant he would always put on the suit...the suit that would eventually kill him. He could feel his own heart start to pound in his chest. Out of habit of working himself out of a panic attack he focused on the sounds around him. Sounds other than his dad's damaged heart or the sounds of the machine's monitoring his dad. He heard the tiny quick heartbeat sounding in accompaniment with the stronger heartbeat he recognized as MJ's. For a moment it centered him. Hearing the two heartbeats was soothing until it occurred to him that he'd put his son in the exact same position he found himself in now. He'd do whatever it took to protect him which would mean it was entirely possible his son would be standing where he was now. It was overwhelming. His eyes snapped up to MJ's. "I need some air."

MJ watched Peter yank the door open and escape into the hallway. She was slightly surprised he hadn't just gone out the window. She had recognized the panic etched in his face. He was right...he needed some air. Sighing, she sat down in the chair next to Tony's bed. "ILYA, tell give me an update every 15 minutes on Peter's position."


	29. Unprepared

Tony blinked his eyes. He got the distinct feeling he wasn't in Australia. He focused on his surroundings. He was used to seeing the room he was in from a completely different angle. He pulled his hand up to brush the fog from his face and realized he was hooked up to an IV.

"It's about time you woke up."

Tony twisted his head and groaned when he saw MJ. "Crap."

"It's nice to see you too Tony...". MJ smirked, she knew Peter was always cranky when he woke up after getting hurt. Maybe it was genetic.

"That's not what I meant. I'm remembering how I ended up here and if you're here that means Peter knows." Tony glanced around the room. He was somewhat hurt that his oldest child wasn't waiting for him to wake up. "Where is Peter?"

"Last time ILYA checked, he was going about 78 miles per hour on I87. I think he's headed into the city and if I had to guess, he plans on meeting up with Miles to work out some frustration on the Maggia." MJ studied the look on Tony's face. Regret was evident in his expression. It wasn't something she saw often from him.

"He's upset that I didn't tell him about the Ten Rings?"

"Upset isn't the word for it. There's a hole in the wall outside MedBay." She watched Tony process what she had said. Peter almost never got angry. It just wasn't in his nature. MJ had seen it a couple times over the years but this was the only time she had seen him like this and she had the definite impression he had already burned though most of the anger by the time she saw him. It was fear that had sent him running. "But, he left because he's terrified."

Tony scrubbed a hand over his face. "This is not that big of a deal."

MJ shook her head. "To him it is." She turned her head towards the door as it pushed open, fully expecting to see Pepper. Instead, she saw Nick Fury step into the room. Feeling stubborn, she stayed planted in her seat.

Fury glanced at the occupants of the room, somewhat expecting MJ to leave. When she didn't, he forged on. MJ had a clearance almost as high as Peter's. Between her position with SI and the fact that he knew Peter told her almost everything, granting her clearance had been the obvious solution. It let him pretend to have some semblance of control over the Avengers - new and old. "Three out of four." He waited until Tony reached out his hand and dropped two of the rings into it. "Rogers will be back in a little while with the third one."

Tony looked at the two rings in his hand. "Any injuries?"

"Sam, but he'll be fine. A couple of Strange's sorcerers got hit with some lightening but I think they'll live." Fury shrugged. "They're still tracking the leader of the Triad. They think he's left Hong Kong."

Tony nodded, hearing the words coming out of Fury's mouth, but was completely focused on the rings. He felt like he was missing something but he couldn't quite put a finger on it.

"MJ, Peter has the Iron Spider deployed and is currently in Brooklyn with Mr. Morales."

MJ shrugged and looked over at Tony and Fury. "I asked ILYA to give me an update every 15 minutes."

Tony frowned as the elusive memory rose to the surface. "FRIDAY, pull up the stills Peter isolated for the police." Stills appeared on the holoscreen mounted on the wall.

MJ looked over at Tony. She was used to the mental gymnastics it took to keep up. Peter did it all the time. "What?"

Tony shook his head as he looked at the pictures. "FRIDAY, blow up the shot of 'The Big Guy', focus on his hand." It was frustrating not being able to manipulate the images himself. The image enlarged showing a man's wrist and hand.

Fury walked over to the image. "Is that what I think it is?"

"FRIDAY, patch me through to Peter." Tony pushed himself into a seated position, ignoring the wave of dizziness that hit him.

"Karen is not responding to my requests. She seems to have isolated herself from my system."

xxxxxxxxxx

Miles looked over at Peter who was crouched next to him on the roof. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine Miles. Focus on the bad guy."

Miles fought back a nervous laugh. Peter was far from fine. He knew it, but he sure as hell wasn't going to push him. "I still don't know if it's him. I just saw a picture of this guy in a magazine my mom gets and it talked about him going to the grand opening of this gallery. And it just kind of looked like our mysterious guy."

"So let's go find out if it's him." Peter stood up and flung a web that would take him to the building directly across from where they were currently watching. The event was starting to wind down. A few people were milling about outside, a few others were getting into Ubers. He landed in the side of the building and shifted so he could see into the windows.

Miles landed a little above Peter. "The woman in the green dress was with him in the picture in the magazine."

Peter searched through all of the remaining people he could see through the window. He was starting to think they were on a wild goose chase when he saw a larger man walking into his line of sight. He was aware that Miles had crawled down next to him on the building. The man fully came into view as he leaned over and kissed the woman in the green dress on the cheek. "Miles, I think that's him."

Miles let out the breath he had been holding. "Now what? There's way too many people around to try to engage with him here."

"Looks like he's leaving. Let's see where he's going." Peter triggered the stealth mode and disappeared. "You go high. I'll stay low and close."

xxxxxxxxxx

Tony pulled the IV out of his hand and looked over at MJ. "See if ILYA can patch us through to Peter."

"Karen has isolated all communication except for Mr. Morales."

Fury watched Tony swing his legs off the side of the bed, then turned to look at the door as it opened.

"What are you doing?" Pepper pushed through the door. If she were honest she wasn't surprised that Tony was already trying to get out of bed.

"Ok...it's getting a little crowded in here." Fury looked at MJ. "Let me know if you get through to him. I'll track down the rest of them and check on Rogers' ETA." He walked past Pepper leaving her space to corral Tony.

"Peter is walking into something unprepared." Tony held onto the side of the bed as he forced his feet to the floor. He knew the nanite compartment had been removed which meant he didn't have a suit.

Pepper pushed him back down onto the bed. "I get that it's Peter but for once in your life believe that other people can help too." She looked over at MJ. "Where is he?"

"In town with Miles." MJ slid her phone out and tried calling him the old fashion way, frowning when all she got was his voice mail.

"Is he in immediate danger?" Peter had succeeded in getting Tony back on the bed and looked expectantly at MJ.

"No. He's moving through Brooklyn." MJ looked at the map displayed on the face of her watch.

"Pep, he's going after someone he doesn't know is connected to the Ten Rings."

Pepper looked at Tony. "It's a good thing he's got four friends currently entertaining Morgan who will be more than happy to assist." She glanced over at MJ. "Can you grab Johnny or Bobby so Tony can explain what's going on?


	30. Unprepared

Trailing the car had been easy. Peter knew the stealth mode wouldn't hold up if he was fighting, but for covert activities he was actually pretty impressed with what they had been able to accomplish with the suit. He perched on the side of a warehouse watching their target. The target that Karen had finally identified as Wilson Fisk. Fisk was currently standing outside of his town car on an airport tarmac and Peter had the distinct impression that he was waiting for someone.

Miles was on top of the roof, blending in with the shadows. Karen was amplifying sound coming from Fisk to both Peter and Miles but for now the man was completely silent.

The runway they were near was a semi private runway at the back edge of the airport, boarding a residential neighborhood. With so many other planes taking off and landing in the area, both Peter and Miles had trouble hearing the one preparing to land on their runway until they could see the landing lights.

Fisk shifted his large frame against the side of the car and waited for the plane to come to a stop. The doors opened and a woman stepped out, flanked by six bodyguards. "Leiku. I was surprised to see your message earlier. I wasn't expecting you for another couple weeks."

"Unavoidable. M'Nai was attacked." Leiku looked around the tarmac. It seemed like most other airports, bordered a residential community, although not one of any affluence. It still provided enough privacy that she could come into the country without the prying eyes of the government.

Fisk looked at Leiku's bodyguards. Everyone in the inner sanctum knew that Leiku was the real power behind the Ten Rings. The Chinese faction had wrestled control back from the Middle Eastern tribes years ago thanks to Stark destabilizing that entire region. Fisk knew more than the average member because he made sure he knew the people he was in bed with. M'Nai was just for show, although he had also heard that Leiku and M'Nai's relationship was a little more complicated than what was seen on the surface. If Leiku was here without M'Nai, it meant she would be out for blood. It had taken him years to work his way into her trust. He'd be damned if whatever was going on now was going to ruin all of his hard work. "Does this speed up the time table?"

Leiku shrugged. "The status of the New York operation is only a small part of the bigger plan. The fact that we were attacked concerns me. If we can solidify our position here it will help the others fall into line."

Peter tapped his com so silence his voice outside of the mask. "Miles, whatever they're planning it's larger than just New York. There's seven bodyguards including Fisk's driver plus Fisk and the woman. How do you feel about taking them now?" Peter had weighed the odds. Nine against two Spider-Men wasn't bad. The residential area behind the runway was concerning but the rest of the buildings in the general vicinity were all warehouses. They may not get this chance to have them this secluded again.

"Agreed. What's the plan?"

xxxxxxxxxx

Johnny looked over at the door as MJ pushed through it. He glanced over at Bobby who was entertaining Morgan with ice sculptures before walking over. "What's wrong?"

MJ shook her head and glanced over at Morgan. Nodding her head she urged him back through the door. Once it closed behind them, she herded him back towards Tony's room. "Tony's worried about Peter."

Johnny nodded. "Fury mentioned something about another ring and told us to stay ready. Then Maria grabbed him. I think Carol called."

MJ frowned as she pushed Tony's door open. "How do you call from space?" Then she shook her head and followed Johnny into the room. "You know what...nevermind...bigger issues."

Tony looked up from the tablet he was working on. "We found another ring. It's in New York in the possession of someone connected to the Maggia that Peter and Miles have been tangling with."

Johnny nodded and took the tablet from Tony and looked at the pictures. He squinted at the blurry symbols on the ring. "That looks like fire."

Tony nodded. "It tracks. Last time they dealt with him, an apartment building went up in flames. No one could figure out how it got so out of control so fast. My guess is it was the ring."

Johnny looked over at MJ. "Where are they now?"

MJ glanced down at the map on her watch. "A regional airport north of Queens." She tapped the image and pushed it over to the tablet.

Johnny looked at the location. "Ok. Davis can portal us in." He looked back at Tony. "Is he going to stand down until we get there?"

"He doesn't know. He isolated Karen from FRIDAY and isn't answering calls." Tony glanced over at MJ. He understood not answering his calls but he didn't understand why Peter wasn't answering MJ's.

MJ took the tablet back from Johnny and glanced over at Pepper. "Bobby is currently entertaining Morgan..."

Pepper nodded and leaned over and kissed Tony on the cheek. "Now that I know you're not dying I'll bring Morgan back to see you. I can take her upstairs if I need to." She knew the anxiety Tony and MJ felt would be picked up on by Morgan so she wanted to limit the worry as much as she could.

Johnny nodded and followed her out the door. He knew Peter's position and knew where Davis could portal where they wouldn't be seen. The idea was to provide backup, not screw up whatever it was that Peter was doing.

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Peter scampered up the side of the warehouse and dove off the roof. Tucking into a ball he flipped over the guards and launched web grenades, creating enough of a delay that Miles could come in behind them and finish wrapping some of them up. He was expecting weapons fire but it still caught him off guard when bullets hit his chest. The Iron Spider suit was able to deflect just about any kind of bullet, even armor piercing rounds. Miles's suit wasn't quite as bulletproof so they made a point of webbing up as many guns as they could.

Miles slid under one of the guards, flinging taser webs to the side which managed to take out the legs of the guard. He looked back as he felt a fireball fly past his head, eventually landing on the town car engulfing it in flames. "Peter!" He had called out to Peter to bring his attention to the fire but managed to look over just as Peter was hit in the chest with a bolt of lightening.

"Peter, your suit is currently charged at 300%". Karen piped into his ear.

"Huh, is that why my teeth are numb? Off load to taser grenades." The dampeners they had developed over the years had come a long way. They were able to absorb incredibly high voltages although what had just hit Peter was stronger than he had felt before. The suit seemed to be handling it though. He fired the taser grenades at a group of guards, incapacitating them. He focused his attention on the woman. Whatever he had been hit with came from her. "Karen, what was that weapon?"

"Unable to determine. It has signatures of being alien in origin."

Peter checked down on the remaining guards, Fisk, and the woman. All had taken cover in one of the warehouses. Miles was on the other side of the car which was currently on fire. "What happened."

Miles crossed over to meet Peter, "Fireball. No idea where it came from."

Peter nodded. "I'm counting three guards, Fisk, and the woman. She has some kind of alien tech."

They figured five targets should be fairly easy. Miles and Peter split up and approached the warehouse from different directions. Peter's spidey sense triggered and he glanced around. Engaging night vision he glanced around again. Not seeing anyone he opted to ignore it. It wasn't the 'someone is trying to kill you'. That threat was directly in front of him, not the direction he was triggering from. He pushed on and scampered up the wall of the warehouse. He could see the four targets below him. He saw Miles in position so he fired webs.

Both his and Miles's webs were met with fireballs. "Crap. How is he doing that?"

The fireballs had started a fire in the warehouse, forcing the occupants to scramble. Peter jumped down to the ground and flung a web at one of the guards, and followed it with a sidekick, driving him to the ground. Smoke was starting to billow upwards. Peter and Miles had lost their positioning and now risked getting trapped inside the burning building. Dragging the unconscious guards outside and away from the burning building, Peter felt another charge hit his suit.

"How many more of those can you take?" Miles threw webs behind Peter blocking him from the view of their remaining targets.

"So far the suit is holding." Peter pulled Miles behind him as they both checked down on Fisk, the woman, and the single remaining guard. "Karen off load to grenades." Once fully charged he flung them towards the group. The guard took the brunt of the charge and was taken down to the ground, pinned by webs.

A full volley of electricity flew in their direction. Lightening flickered across Peter's suit. "Ok. I might be hitting my max." Peter watched the readings on his HUD flicker up to 500%. He started to offload to taser grenades again when a whirling cyclone of fire appeared in front of them.

Miles flung a web to a piece of building wall and pulled it in front of him. "We are outgunned."

Peter started running through their options and realized they didn't have many. "We do what we started out to do."


	31. Back Up

Peter checked both web shooters. The web grenades were primed and ready. He looked over at Miles. "Wait until I take some of them out." Without giving him time to argue, he moved out from behind the makeshift barricade. The Iron Spider was fireproof. He had tested the ranges with Johnny and knew it could go pretty high. He ran through the whirlwind of fire and let loose the web grenades. The overload energy exploded on contact, forcing the Fisk to lose focus. The whirlwind collapsed but was soon replace by electrical bolts firing. Peter managed to dodge all of them but he was starting to run out of space. Miles had finished webbing up the remaining guard which just left the woman and Fisk. The weapons they both carried made them formidable. A fireball flew over Peter's head as he ducked only to for it to be hurled back towards Fisk.

"Peter, if you're going to play with people who can throw fireballs, at least invite your friends that can make their own." Johnny landed next to Peter and surveilling the scene. "Why is everything on fire?"

Relief that they had backup spread through Peter as he looked around. The warehouse fire was spreading to the adjoining buildings and the car was dangerously close to catching the plane on fire. "They've got some kind of alien tech." He looked over as Bobby landed next to him. "Where are Wyatt and Davis?"

"Making sure Miles is ok. The second Wyatt saw the mess you two have created he figured he was outgunned." Bobby looked through the smoke at Fisk and the woman. "Who's the lady?"

"She came in on the plane. And she can shoot some kind of electrical bursts. She's hit me a couple times but so far the suit dampeners are holding." Peter saw Fisk take aim again.

Johnny pulled the fireball off it's trajectory and created a wall of fire surrounding Fisk and the woman. "Yeah, about that...the alien tech...they're rings...as in Ten Rings. My guess is the lady has the Honk Kong ring."

Peter frowned. "Ok. That makes a certain amount of sense. Didn't the Hong Kong ring evade a whole bunch of people?"

Bobby threw an ice spear towards the woman, managing to distract her from letting lose another barrage of lightening. "We can talk about this later. Right now can we please just take down the bad guys?"

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MJ smiled at Morgan as she and Pepper left the room. She thought they were moderately successful at keeping their concern over Peter from showing. Once the door was shut and she had given them a count of ten to get far enough away she looked over at Tony who had grabbed the tablet again. "Can you tell if they've made it there yet?"

Tony nodded. "All of their transponders are reporting in the area we had Peter. I still can't communicate directly with him, but I've gotten into the back door of Karen's programming. The suit hasn't lost any integrity which should mean that Peter is ok."

MJ let out a sigh of relief. Sitting back down, she picked up one of the rings Tony had placed on the nightstand. "All of this for some rings."

Tony glanced over at her. "Be careful. We didn't pick up any adverse affects when we tested the one we had but I don't want to take any chances." He held out his hand to take it from her when he noticed the look on her face. "What?"

MJ frowned. "I don't know. I feel like I've seen something like this before." She reached over and picked up the other ring and studied both of them. Simple gold rings with a stone embedded in them and etchings on the side. The memory resurfaced and she looked up at Tony. "The park. Before you got back. There was this couple. I thought Bucky was going to take them down just for talking to me. The guy was weird. But...". She held up the rings. "He was wearing rings very similar to these."

Tony stared at MJ and set his jaw. "We only knew the whereabouts of six. Seven if you include the one they're after now. That leaves three missing. Tell me about this couple."

MJ handed Tony the rings and wracked her brain to remember details. "They just moved to the area. She said her father had a dog named Cosmo too." She thought they had mentioned their names too. She remembered his was pretty standard but hers was different. "I think his name was Michael? His wife's name was odd. Camina? No, Carina."

"Carina? Are you sure?" Panic seeped through Tony. There couldn't be that many Carina's. And especially not one that set Bucky on edge.

MJ frowned. "Yes. What is it?"

"Carina is the name of The Collector's daughter. The story we heard was that he tried to turn her into a weapon against a threat he perceived to the Universe and she ended up falling in love with him instead." He looked over at MJ. "If she's here that means her husband is the threat The Collector saw." Pieces were falling into place. The person responsible for Xandar's destruction definitely qualified as a threat. "Did you see the symbols on the rings?"

MJ nodded and grabbed the tablet back from Tony and started drawing.

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Between Bobby and Johnny, they were able to contain Fisk and the woman. Peter was able to use their containment to his advantage and fire off taser webs that hit their mark. Between the containment and the taser hits, Fisk and the woman were starting to act like incredibly pissed off caged animals that had access to incredible weaponry. Peter could hear sirens in the distance which meant the fires were getting large enough that the had been detected. He needed a charge large enough to create taser grenades that would be able to knock them out. He kept trying to draw fire from the woman but he was beginning to think she had picked up on the fact that he was able to use the extra voltage instead of it harming him. He watched in horror as the woman fired an energy blast at a power pole feeding the residential area. Overloading it, the transformer blew plumbing the residences into darkness. Fisk directed a stream of fire to the same transformer causing the fire to travel along the wires toward the houses. "Johnny!"

Johnny had already seen what was happening. He was able to pull the fire back and extinguish the flames but knew it was only a matter of time before they attacked the homes again. "They're trying to distract us so they can escape."

"I know." Peter looked over at Bobby who had formed a taller ice wall blocking their path. "Davis, form a portal to the west field at the compound. We'll get them through it."

Davis formed a portal and watched Wyatt and Miles go through it. He looked over. Bobby was in the process of forming walls giving the group only one place to go. Johnny and Peter were physically engaging with the woman and Fisk. The ring was powerful but Davis had watched Johnny over the years hone his abilities. Fisk wouldn't be a match for him. Peter was strategically sparing with the woman. Davis thought she could probably put up a decent fight against Natasha which meant Peter was well matched. But they were both managing to drive them through the corridor Bobby had created which was good because Davis wasn't sure how much longer he could keep the portal open. Johnny and Peter finally had Fisk and the woman to the edge of the portal and tackled them through. Davis followed letting it close behind him.

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Michael stepped out of the shadows once the portal closed. He had figured out how to trace the radiation emitted by Fisks ring. Now he could track both the ring and those who would stop him.


	32. Security Protocol

Davis collapsed as the portal closed behind him. Wyatt surged forward and grabbed him, dragging him out of the line of fire.

"Karen, lock down MedBay and wherever MJ, Pepper, and Morgan are." Peter paused as he heard the steel doors closing over the windows and reinforcing the walls. After the bleed through event they had added a couple security protocols that had been implemented while they were in space. "Dad is still in MedBay, correct?"

"Affirmative Peter. MJ is with him. Morgan and Pepper are in the living quarters. Both areas have been secured."

Peter let out a sigh of relief, only to have the wind knocked out of him by his opponent. Bobby had done what he could to corral them but they were still in an open field. Regaining his footing he spun around and released a taser web, wrapping the woman up. To his dismay, the tasers did very little damage and she managed to untangle herself quickly. "We have got to figure out how to get the rings off of them."

"Yeah, I think the rings are making them super durable." Bobby didn't remember that being part of the intel but it seemed to track with what they had experienced so far. "Your backup is going to need backup soon if we don't figure this out."

"Johnny, how did you get the one from France?" Peter dodged another fireball.

"I distracted him and Wyatt and Nat took care of it." Johnny threw up a wall of fire to absorb the fireballs being thrown at them.

"Ok. We need to be strategic about this. We've got to split them up. Johnny, you're on Fisk. Where's Wyatt?"

Johnny looked around. "I think he's got Davis."

Peter frowned. "Take Miles with you. Bobby and I will take the woman."

Johnny nodded and started driving Fisk away from the woman. He was pleasantly surprised that Miles instinctively knew where to help. It still didn't mean they were making any headway. He manipulated a wall of fire that was met with a whirlwind that sucked his wall into itself, growing in size. If he weren't so exhausted he might actually be having fun. Fighting someone that could manipulate fire the way he could wasn't something he did often. He'd spar with Amanda periodically but that generally took a left turn somewhere and they'd end up definitely not sparing. He shook his head and took control of the whirlwind. If he didn't get his head back in the game he and Miles would both end up dead. He spun it down into a tight spear and threw it at him. Distracted, it allowed Miles to web his arms to his sides and try to get the ring off.

Infuriated, Fisk clinched his fists and forced his arm through the webbing. The force flung Miles back. Firing webs at his face, Miles tackled him in an attempt to get back to the ring. Instead, Fisk heated the ground below him, bursting it into flames. Miles somersaulted away from Fisk and landed next to Johnny and glanced over to see if Peter and Bobby were having any better luck. They weren't.

Feeling a pressure change in the air, they all looked up. Peter smiled as he saw the rear doors of the Benetar open revealing Quill, Rocket, Groot, Steve, Bucky, Nat, and Drax. All seven leapt to the ground, joining the fight.

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Tony paced the small MedBay room, thankful he at least had gotten jeans and a t-shirt on before Peter had locked down the compound. Tablet in hand he tried another backdoor to the compound security protocols, only to be locked out. "I'm going to kill him."

MJ sighed. If she weren't so worried it would have been comical. Tony pacing like a caged animal was identical to Peter pacing on the walls and ceiling when he was frustrated. She had always known they had similar traits but right now she was understanding exactly how deep those similarities ran. Tony had even growled a little at the tablet which Peter also did when he was frustrated. "We can't get out. The protocol is there for a reason. It means nothing can get in too. Focus on getting everyone else here. Are Wanda and Vision still trapped with Morgan and Pepper?"

Tony glanced up, "Yes. Vision could phase through but Wanda can't." He was about to tell Vision to go when he saw a ship appear on the video feed he was watching. He frowned and looked back at the tablet, letting out a sigh of relief. "The Benatar just made it back, at least they have help now." He could leave Vision where he was for now which meant regardless of what else happened, Pepper and Morgan had protection.

MJ nodded. She felt some relief but wouldn't be satisfied until this was over and she knew Peter was safe. "How is FRIDAY doing with finding Michael and Carina?"

Tony frowned. "You could have a career as a police sketch artist. Using your drawings of them, FRIDAY has picked up multiple sighting of one or both of them. There are a couple concerning coincidences where Michael has been sighted in proximity to Fisk which makes me think he knows about Fisk's ring." Tony continued pacing, glaring at the steel panel covering the window.

MJ knew Tony needed a distraction. He wasn't used to sitting on the sidelines. She unfortunately was, although she usually wasn't this close to the action. She was starting to run out of things for him to work on. "Ok, how about the rings. We know he has two of them. What can they do?"

Tony took a deep breath and looked back over at MJ. He knew what she was doing and he appreciated it. What he wanted to do was to start hot wiring medical equipment to build something to get through the shielding. Knowing that wouldn't be taken well and it would leave MJ exposed, he went along with her provided distractions. "The symbols translate to 'Mind' and as close as Strange could figure out 'Electromagnetic Manipulation'." He smirked at the look on MJ's face. "I know, it's a mouthful. Strange tried to give me the translations in Mandarin too." He sighed. "There's so much we don't know about these damn rings. We tested the one that Strange had and I have a general understanding of how they work, at least as much as I can without taking it apart. I barely got away with deep scanning it."

"Electromagnetic...that could mess with Peter, right?" MJ crinkled her nose in worry. She was trying to keep a cool exterior because Tony was outwardly panicking enough for both of them. But the reality was Peter and the rest of them were in the middle of a fight with no clear path to victory other than simply overpowering them.

Tony thought through the battle on Moord. "Peter didn't have an electrical problem the first time we faced him." He frowned for a moment, "But he got into our heads which means he could again." He looked over at MJ and realized he needed to start acting like the adult in the room. If he got in their heads before it meant that he could see what Peter's weaknesses were. MJ definitely didn't need to know that. "He teleported away from the battle. That fits with electromagnetic manipulation and how Thor uses what he calls the Bifrost." Tony started running through possibilities in his head. He opened up a text and sent a message to Brunnhilde. Too much help at this point would be better than not enough. He glanced back at the video feed. The added help was definitely making a difference. In a separate screen he pulled up the data from Afghanistan where the other ring had been triggered. He had a couple theories he wanted to check


	33. The Cavalry

Peter's relief was short lived. The longer Fisk and the woman used the rings, the more adept they became at using them. The added manpower was certainly helping but they were only slightly closer to retrieving the rings. Groot and Rocket alternated between the two, but Groot's lack of resistance to both lighting and fire was starting to be problematic and he ended up moving further back and acting as a safety net, plucking everyone out of harms way when needed.

Steve looked over at Peter. "You, Miles, and Johnny see if you can get to Fisk. You're the only ones that are truly fireproof. The rest of us are getting burned the minute we get too close. I don't care if you have to tackle him and sit on him to get the ring off."

Peter nodded and made his way across the field to where Johnny was corralling Fisk. On the plus side, aliens weren't falling out of the sky so they were doing moderately better than they had been the last time a battle took place on this field. He landed next to Miles. "Tackle him. Forget webs, just use brute strength. Between the two of us, even with the ring, we should be able to get him down. Then we'll work on getting the ring off."

Miles nodded. "I always wanted to play football...I guess now is the chance."

Peter grinned, "Just consider the ring to be the football."

Launching themselves at Fisk, they forced him to the ground. Using all the strength he had, Miles kept Fisk on the ground while Peter used the waldos to brace himself as he tugged on Fisk's hand and the ring. He had worked the ring partially off when he felt another change in pressure. Pulling on the ring he looked around and saw a brightness appear a couple yards away. Panic seeped in and he doubled his efforts in obtaining the ring until he felt himself pushed back and pinned to the ground.

Michael smiled as he took in his surroundings. Most of the individuals fighting to obtain the rings he had faced before. He had manipulated the gravity with one of the rings immediately around him to ensure he wouldn't be accosted after teleporting. There was always a few moments of disorientation that he experienced when using the ring to teleport. That had worked in his favor because it had served to restrain not only Fisk but the boy he had faced before. He covered the short distance to Fisk and reached down to retrieve the ring from his immobilized hand. Slipping it on his finger he could feel it almost connecting to the other rings, feeding off their power.

He look around the area for the other ring. Seeing his quarry he extended his manipulation of the gravity further, pinning the combatants and knocking a shield and bullets that were headed his way to the ground. He had learned much about the rings after his first confrontation. His control over their power was almost flawless. He walked over to the woman and retrieved the ring. Smiling at her, he slipped it on his finger and let loose a surge of electricity far surpassing anything she had been able to manage. He looked at his opponents as lightening surged through them, enjoying the image of their immobilized bodies writhing in response to the electricity.

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Tony's face paled when he saw Michael appear. Using the tablet he connected to Vision. "Do what you can to seal Pepper and Morgan in the most secure spot you can find and tell Wanda to blow through the wall. He's here." He glanced over at MJ as it dawned on her what he was taking about. Knowing Vision would take care of it he flipped over to Fury's channel. "He's here."

"Well, if you and Peter hadn't forgotten to put in a back door, Maria, Goose, Remy, and I wouldn't be locked in ops." He watched Goose jump up to the ceiling and paw at an air vent. "Well, scratch that. Goose may make it out. I'll send him to help." He looked over at Maria. "Give Maria a couple more minutes and she may make it through."

"Any update on Carol's ETA?"

"They're on their way but they don't know he's here and I can't reach them." Fury looked at the monitors. Steve, Bucky, Peter and Miles were moving but the others still seemed frozen. "Tony, we'll get them back up." He saw Tony's transmission end, knowing he was focused on what was going on outside. Maria had looked over at him expectantly as she and Remy were working on getting through the steel door that had rolled into place. "Let's hear it for the Super Soldier formula. Those four are the only ones that seem to be able to move against whatever it is he's doing."

"It's electromagnetic manipulation, right? He's probably messing with the gravity." Remy looked at the two he was trapped with. "It's not so different that what I do although mine is more electrostatic manipulation. Same concept." Remy twirled a pen through his fingers and jammed it into the frame. Seconds later it exploded, weakening the seam. "We're going to run out of pens before we get through."

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Peter strained against the invisible force holding him to the ground. It felt like his muscles were ripping. He had managed to turn his head and could see Miles moving but Johnny was pinned to the ground. Getting his knees under him he could see Steve and Bucky in a similar position. They could move but barely. Another bolt of electricity surged through the ground, running through everyone.

"Peter, your suit is at its maximum capacity. If you experience another surge before off loading you'll do irreparable damage."

Peter grimaced as he pulled one of his hands up. "Load as much as you can to a web grenade." Watching the charge max out he hit the trigger, grenade landing on the glowing man. It was enough of a distraction that it allowed Steve and Bucky to get to their feet. Before he could do anything more, a red streak flew past him, letting off a red flare that hit its mark. Wanda landed in front of their enemy and hit him with another blast. It was enough to break his concentration. The force pinning everyone disappeared and Peter surged fully to his feet. He off loading the remaining built up energy and shot grenades towards their enemy. His charges were joined by multiple weapons fire, a shield, and energy blasts from Vision, Wanda, and Quill.

A burst of light erupted and suddenly there were dozens of targets. Karen piped into Peter's ear. "Peter, I believe those are projections but I'm having difficulty distinguishing the real target."

"Fine, target everything." He flipped up and landed a dozen charged web grenades in rapid fire. Several of the holograms flickered. Miles mimicked the motions, although his taser webs did not carry as much of a punch. Still, several of the holograms flickered in response to the charges. Peter felt another change in pressure and cringed, not sure if they could take much more. A beam of light flew to the ground in front of him, fading to reveal the god of thunder, a formidable Pegasus and a Valkyrie he would not want to meet in a dark alley, and the trickster god who very much looked capable of leveling the damage he had years ago in New York.

Natasha jogged up next to him, armed with one of Rockets guns. "Looks like the cavalry finally showed up." Two more beams of light landed revealing Carol and Sam. Natasha could feel the sigh of relief that Peter let out, inwardly knowing she felt the same. "Let's see if we can end this."

"Pete..."

Peter put his hand up to his ear. "Dad? Are you ok? Are MJ, Morgan, and Pepper ok?"

"Everyone is fine. I think I have an idea but we have got to get the rings off."

Peter frowned. "That's what we've been trying to do."

"Yeah, you've got help now. Just make sure everyone knows we've got to get the rings in order to stop him." Tony tightened his grip on the tablet as the orange portal opened revealing Strange. "Got it kid?" He swallowed, leaving the rest that he wanted to say stuck in his throat.

"Got it." Peter looked over at Natasha. "Dad has a plan but we have to get the rings."

She nodded. "Let's rally the troops then."


	34. The Final Act

Strange frowned at Tony. "Run it by me again."

Tony let out an impatient sigh. "The readings that were picked up in Afghanistan are similar to the readings Reed got in the Negative Zone. You said that the symbol translated as 'darkness'. What if it's just really absence of everything we consider normal - like matter. What I'm talking about is anti matter. That's what the negative zone is made up of. We know these things have the capability of creating portals, just like you and Davis can. I think that ring opens a portal into the negative zone and uses antimatter as a weapon. If we can open that portal and push him through, we can seal him in the negative zone."

Strange looked at Tony. "Ok. Do they know the plan?"

Tony shook his head. "All I told Peter was they they had to get the rings."

Strange nodded. "I need to find out who has the ring from Afghanistan." He looked between Tony and MJ. "And I'm not portaling you out of here."

MJ nodded and knew it was going to drive Tony nuts but he didn't have a suit and an hour ago he had been unconscious after having a 'cardiac incident'. Him leaving the protection offered by the shielded MedBay wasn't an option. "We're staying put." She'd play the pregnancy card if she needed to but she was damned if she was going to let Tony get himself killed.

Tony started to protest but saw the look on MJ's face and the protective hand across her belly. He let out a disgruntled sigh. "Fine. I'll watch on the tablet feed."

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Peter stood between Bucky and Steve. The plan was simple. Bobby, Johnny, Groot, and Brunnhilde were the barriers, acting to corral Michael and to shrink the battlefield. Thor, Quill, Sam, Carol, Wanda, and Vision were the fire power. They were the only ones that could really go toe to toe with him. The rest of them were charged with getting the rings. Peter still wasn't entirely sure how they were going to accomplish this but it was all they had. Their enemy was enhanced, powerful, and augmented by not one but six rings. They also had to get the Afghanistan ring to Strange when he portaled in.

Loki walked up behind Peter. "Where is Dr. Banner. I feel like we could certainly use a Hulk right now."

Steve looked over then looked back to the battlefield. "On the Benetar. Mantis is with him. I'm not sure the Hulk feels like coming out to play."

Loki smirked as the battle in front of him unfolded. They couldn't move in until their opponent had been sufficiently weakened. He was extraordinarily thankful this particular line up did not exist when he was attacking New York. He would not have survived the onslaught. Most of the ones charged with attacking were all imbued with power from the Infinity Stones in some form or fashion. Their power was immense and if needed, there was no doubt they could destroy the enemy facing them now. That was not the plan though, which amused him.

Peter bounced on his toes. Sitting still was never something he did well. He understood why he needed to stay back but it drove him nuts. He watched Thor hurl Mjolnir towards the enemy, Michael...his dad had filled in the incredibly benign name. The hammer drove Michael to the ground but he immediately pushed back with lightening of his own, followed by a fire storm. Wanda, Vision, Carol, and Sam hit him with energy blasts while Thor and Quill added another onslaught.

"Now." The quiet command spurred immediate motion. Quill and Thor's attack had pushed Michael off balance. The continued attack had succeeded in weakening him. There were eight of them. Six rings. Two hands. So they attacked. Peter slid under the energy waves and grabbed one of Michael's hands and pulled. Rocket had slid into a hole on the other side and was pulling with the same fervor. Peter could feel one of the rings move under his fingers but he lost his grip and fell backwards. Nat had been next to him and slid her hand in to replace Peter's and finished pulling off one of the rings.

Steve was laying across Michael's upper arm attempting to hold him in place. He glanced across at Bucky who was in a similar position. It would be comical if there wasn't so much at stake. Miles was behind Rocket, bracing him so he wouldn't loose his grip. Rocket pulled a ring off but it flew into the air. Miles managed to snag it before they lost it in the melee. "Two down, four to go."

Michael regained strength and sent out an electrical impulse wave, throwing everyone off of him. To offload the additional energy his suit absorbed, Peter fired charged grenades at Michael which only drew his attention. Deciding to take advantage of it, Peter launched himself at Michael and tackled him to the ground. If Michael had been a normal human, the force would have crushed him. Instead, it just succeeded in knocking him off balance and onto his back. Before Peter could even comprehend what was happening, Drax and Loki appeared on either side. Armed with long knives they succeeded in accomplishing the task of collecting the final rings.

Michael roared in response and threw off his attackers, surging to his feet. The internal energy glowed even brighter, blinding those around to the orange portal opening. Groot's branch extended from his position across the battlefield and dropped a ring bearing a black stone in Dr. Strange's open hand. Sliding it on, Strange closed his eyes and focused. Reopening them, an inky black portal grew behind Michael. In unison, Steve and Bucky landed kicks to Michael's midsection. The force sent him flying backwards through the portal.

When the inky blackness dissipated, silence echoed through the battlefield. Peter let out a sigh as he looked around. No one appeared to be badly injured. He didn't think any of them would be up for saving the world again any time soon and just about everybody needed a trip to MedBay but at least everyone seemed to be moving. He saw the orange cat make his way onto the battlefield. He watched it wind his way through people's legs until he found Natasha who had collected all of the rings. Strange had just dropped the two rings he bore into her hand. As Natasha looked at the rings, Peter watched the cat sit down in front of her and open its mouth.

"What the hell!" Peter slid backwards into Rocket as the tentacles exploded from the cats' mouth, gently grabbing the rings out of Natasha's hands. They then retreated back into its mouth and the cat licked its paws as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Flerken have pocket dimensions inside their mouths. The rings will be safe until he gets a furball and accidentally coughs them up." Rocket moved next to Peter and sat down. "Nat said you'd put an AI the Benetar if we helped."

Peter chuckled as he looked down at Rocket. A cat having a pocket dimension inside its mouth wasn't much odder than a talking raccoon. At this point in his life he was content to just go with it


	35. Epilogues

_The Negative Zone_

Michael felt himself falling and felt like he was passing through eternity. Slamming into a solid surface he looked around him at the darkness that surrounded him. The only light seemed to come from himself. Glancing down at his arms, he grew brighter momentarily as what had been cleaved off during the battle regrew. He felt around for an energy source to draw from to regain his strength and panicked when he didn't feel energy emanating from anything around him. If he hadn't been so focused on the fact that he had nothing to replenish his life force with, he would have noticed the glow appearing in front of him. As it was, he didn't notice it until the brightness eclipsed his own. He looked up and he couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. His initial thought was that it was how he had wanted others to see him. As a omnipotent being, but the glow kept increasing until fear set in. He remembered the stories his mother would tell him as a child of the guardians from sky's that would carry out their gods commands. He felt very small in the presence of this being. As the being hovered in front of him, Michael couldn't help but to stare into the light. It was mesmerizing.

"My child, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. I have been alone for so long." The being reached its hand down to Michael and pulled him to his feet. "I can teach you to use the energy around you to your advantage, and together we can break free from this prison."

Michael could feel the energy emanating from the being. It was different than what he was used to, almost stronger. "How long have you been here?"

The being chuckled. "An eternity. When I was placed here, giants were still walking the universe." He reached up and caressed the gem than hung around his neck. "Using the companions to this, they banished me here." He looked down at his new protege. "Banished but not killed. It took me a millennia for learn to use this new energy. You can benefit from my knowledge and together we shall escape our bonds. Once free you shall herald my reign over this universe."

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_Knowhere_

The Collector looked up as the doors to his private quarters opened. He wasn't overly surprised, he did have the ability to see what was going on in the universe. He was well aware of what happened on Earth. "Is this the disguise you chose for your time on Earth?"

Carina shrugged. "It suited its purpose and helped me blend in. Plus, he seemed to like it." She twisted the ring on her finger subconsciously and the facade dropped, her pink skin revealing itself. "What did I miss here?"

The Collector leaned back in his chair, patting the head of the dog he had rescued so long ago. "Your uncle has acquired an Infinity Stone. They are almost all accounted for. I may have a lead on the Soul Stone."

Carina sat down in the chair opposite her father. "Does that means we have a quest? Gathering the stones could be fun."

The Collector nodded. "I would like to finish the collection we started. Do you know where they ended up?"

"On Earth. All eight of them."

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**Skreeeetch...ok...I really haven't had a whole lot of deaths in these stories. I like to think of this AU as the happier, friendlier AU. But...Chadwick Boseman...**

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**Following is an epilogue snippet...if you like living in the happier, friendlier AU where none of the good guys die...stop here or skip down to the next note.**

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_The King is Dead, Long Live the King_

"Ok. I think he's finally down." Pepper lowered herself gracefully into one of the chairs in the living room. "He definitely knows when you're about to leave the room." At three months old, baby Ben was proving to be a challenging sleeper. She smirked at the two exhausted parents laying on the sofa. Peter thought his ability to function on less sleep would make parenting a breeze. Pepper was somewhat enjoying the fact that he had finally admitted that he was so very, very wrong. "Where's your dad?"

MJ pushed herself into a sitting position from where she was laying in Peter's lap. "Morgan got up and asked for water and then he got a phone call so he went into his office so there was no chance he would wake Ben up." No one wanted to admit it but they were all certain Ben had Peter's hearing. So far none of the other "skills" had appeared but she wasn't ruling them out. She felt Peter tense behind her.

"Dad...?" Peter straightened up. He could tell from the look on his dad's face that something was wrong.

"That was M'Baku." Tony took a deep breath and looked at Peter. "TChalla's plane went down over the ocean. They think it might have been some kind of mechanical failure...".

Peter lurched to his feet. "Do they need help with search and rescue? We could get there in a couple hours."

Tony shook his head. "The plane broke apart. They've been recovering pieces over the last 12 hours." Tony's voice broke slightly. "They haven't recovered a body but..."

"No!" Peter tried to push past his dad. They had to go...now. He felt MJ reach up and grab his hand. He looked at his dad, his eyes pleading for there to be another outcome, another answer.

Tony put his hands on Peter's shoulders. "M'Baku called because they're releasing it in the morning. He didn't want us to hear it on the news." He looked sympathetically at Peter. He knew Peter considered T'Challa to be a good friend. Peter was no stranger to loss but he would give anything to spare his son from this. Unfortunately he wasn't done with the bad news. "Nakia is missing. They think she may have been on the plane with him."

A sob escaped MJ as she reached for her phone. Quickly finding Nakia's name she dialed. After a moment the call went to voice mail. She looked up at Peter, tears brimming her eyes.

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Peter slid his hands into the pockets of his dress pants as the door slid closed behind him and he waited for the elevator that would take him to Shuri's lab. They had been in Wakanda for almost a week. He hadn't fully appreciated T'Challa's roll as King of Wakanda. He hadn't expected the closed casket to lie in state for several days while presidents and kings paid their respect. He hadn't expected the relatively enjoyable time reminiscing with friends. He hadn't expected the feeling of helplessness. He hadn't expected the remorse at not spending more time with someone he truly had considered to be a friend. He hadn't expected Shuri to react the way she had but in retrospect he wasn't sure what he should have expected.

The door opened into Shuri's lab. Not everyone could actually get in here. He was slightly surprised his access still existed and that Shuri hadn't locked everyone out. He paused briefly when he saw her hunched over her lab table. "Shuri..."

"No!" She didn't even look up from what she was doing. She had known Peter had been on his way up. She had briefly contemplated locking him out but had hesitated long enough where she knew she didn't have time to put the codes in without putting the entire capital city in lockdown. Part of her wanted to see him. She considered Peter a friend. She just wasn't sure if she wanted to trust him.

"Shuri, I just want to make sure you're ok." Peter studied her. Her muscles were tense as if she were about to pounce. "Why don't you come back to New York with us. Just visit for a couple days. A change of scenery."

"Peter, I don't need a change of scenery and I don't need you to rescue me." She finally looked up and almost broke again. "I have things to do."

Peter frowned. Shuri had nothing she 'had' to do. She had turned down the throne, although turned down might be an understatement. M'Baku was acting ruler until the people of Wakanda could reach a decision. Without heart-shaped herb, they had found that their traditional methods of choosing a ruler had to be altered. But, he knew that's not where her head was. The first night they were here, Shuri had what could only be described as a monumental breakdown. She had vacillated between believing T'Challa was alive to believing that T'Challa had been killed. Okoye had finally been able to sedate her. Since then, Shuri had barely said two words to anyone. "You know I will always help you no matter what you need, right."

Shuri forced her eyes back down and blinked back tears. "Peter, I know. And I will call you when I need help." She steeled herself and looked back up. "I promise."

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I can’t imagine seeing another actor play T'Challa. Chadwick Boseman embodied the Black Panther and King T'Challa. Rumor has it they're not recasting him. I hope that's what they end up doing. In the comics, Shuri assumes the Black Panther mantle and that's what's been rumored to be happening even before Chadwick Boseman's death. I hope T'Challa dies off screen and not on screen through some CGI/adapted unused footage (a la Carrie Fisher). I went back and forth when I was thinking about writing this snippet whether T'Challa dies in action or just by some fluke accident. I settled in the middle. The plane could have gone down because of some weird fluke...or maybe Namor caused it.**
> 
> **I’m working on a story that will fall after the Africa story and before the 2023 bleed through event. But, just for fun...here's what's set up for potential future stories.**
> 
> **Galactus - he's such a well known villain but freaking impossible to imagine outside of a comic book. It seems like every time it's been tried it turns out to be horrible (Fantastic Four movie). Then I read a tidbit about Galactus...species see him differently...and it got me thinking. Anyone remember the Vorlon from Babylon 5 (yeah, I know, dating myself). When they revealed their form, everyone saw something different..something from their religious mythos. Some saw angels, some saw demons, some saw nothing. It was a fascinating insight into the individual characters. J. Michael Straczynski created Babylon 5. He also spent a stint writing a Spider-Man series for Marvel comics. Galactus all of the sudden makes more sense to me. So maybe...**
> 
> **The Collector - Carina is alive. Was she in love with Michael or was she working for her father the whole time? The Collector still has a ring. And still wants a full set. He'd sell out his brother for one ring, what would he do for the full set?**
> 
> **Namor - he may or may not have been teased in EndGame. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't show up at some point in the MCU. The sometime hero / sometime villain may or may not have caused T'Challa's plane to crash.**
> 
> **Kang - I love Kang the Conqueror. A time traveler forever chasing the change that will restore his timeline and bring his lover Ravonna back to life. One of the planets Michael destroyed was Carelius..which happens to be Ravonna's homeworld. Kang takes a weird turn somewhere in the comics and at some point I think he's actually Reed's son and at another time Iron Lad. I hate both of those storylines. Before EndGame, Kang was actually one of my scenarios for wrapping up Infinity War...him trying to fix Thanos's snap. I never really fleshed it out but the idea was there in my head.**
> 
> **Shuri as Black Panther - she's not handling things well. Plus, she thinks it wasn't an accident. With the herb gone in the MCU, Black Panther can only now exist via technology...which is all Shuri.**
> 
> **Kate Bishop - The Kate that MJ asks Miles about is Kate Bishop.**
> 
> **Professor Hulk - Mantis has gotten Bruce thinking. After all this time he's starting to understand the Hulk.**
> 
> **None of these are well fleshed out in my head so it's not like there's a story brewing for any of them. Curious to hear what might sound interesting to others.**


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